What Fate Brings Forward
by MidnightKat1
Summary: Sakura Visits Suna when she's 6 and meets Gaara before he's insane. Upset her parents take away his first friend he kills them, unbeknownst to Sakura. They meet again in the Chunin exams, grow closer later on, and AGAIN when she helps save his life. Their relationship grows into more but will Sasuke, a war, and her parents death stop them from being together? GxSak oneside SasuXSak
1. The Journey

**Chapter one: The Journey**

Long, stunningly pink hair blew in the wind as a small, young girl, clad in red, skipped across the desert sand. She was so excited to be visiting Suna with her parents! On any normal occasion they left her at her best friend, Ino Yamanaka's, house and left for a few weeks to do their diplomatic work.

You see this young girl's parents were _ambassadors_ for Fire Country – employed by its capital Konoha. Their job was to make 'nicey nice' with the Wind Country's Kazekage and the Suna council so that if some bully people started picking on Konoha, they would have some friends to help them fight off the meanie heads. Each country had these _diplomats _and would send two of them to the other four countries – water, wind, earth, and lightning - to try and make peaceful _negotiations._

At least that's what the pink-haired-6-year-old's mother always told her whenever her parents would have to go to Suna. Each and every time her mother had to redefine the big words like _negotiations_ and _diplomats_ for her. However over more recent years they'd be leaving more frequently and seemed more stressed each time they came back. Once, her mother even had an injury on her wrist that now left a nasty scar. In accordance with the their frequent travels, they didn't want to burden the Yamanaka's each time they had to leave so now that she was 6 they were finally taking her with them – although that just seemed to add to their stress.

She was excited to be visiting another country so she overlooked the word – burden. THAT was a word she didn't need to be defined. Neighborhood kids always called her a burden whenever they would play ninja and she couldn't do anything useful. Even Hinata Hyuga was a better teammate then her - and that girl was beyond shy.

"Sakura!" A young woman around her 30s with mousy brown hair and honey colored eyes rushed to catch up with her daughter. "Young lady you slow down and stay with your parents! The sand is unpredictable and dangerous! You don't know what it will do!"

Sakura slowed to a halt and looked up to mother with wide eyes and a pouty lip that always made everyone she met melt. "Yes mama." Sakura's mother knelt down instantly and pulled her in a fierce embrace upon seeing the signature pouty lip.

"Remember that when we're in Suna you are to never - and I stress the word _**never – **_leave mommy or daddy's side okay sweetie?" Sakura nodded, even though her mother couldn't see the gesture with Sakura's head resting on her mom's shoulder.

"Your mothers right my little cherry blossom." Sakura's father knelt next to her mother to be directly leveled with Sakura's eyes. This was a parenting technique they used. They found it better to look her directly in the eyes then to look down on her. His emerald green eyes pierced into her paler version. "Suna isn't like Konoha, it isn't as safe here." He told her, seriousness ringing in every syllable.

Her mother finally let her go and Sakura just nodded at both her parents in understanding, but she could tell by the worried look on their faces that they didn't believe she really understood what they were talking about.

And in all honesty, SHE DIDN'T. How could she when they were always so vague when talking about _sand? _They'd warned her about it 5 times before they actually left the Village hidden in the Leaves, 10 more times on their way to the desert itself and 6 more, if you count the lecture she just received, since entering the desert.

She really didn't understand – what was so wrong with sand? Since being in the desert she hadn't had a problem with it! It warmed her toes when it slipped under her sandals and even though it got in her eyes and mouth sometimes, she really didn't mind – she could always just wash it out eventually. Sakura didn't care if she was dirty because one day she would be a ninja and ninjas needed to put up with the worst possible conditions. She saw this more like a training exercise.

But back to the "dangers of sand". What made it even more confusing was that there was sand in Konoha too, just not nearly as much, but there was still sand. Her parents never spazzed out and started lecturing her on how 'deadly sand was' when she was out playing with her friends in the stuff, so what was so bad about it now? If they had given her a few more details then maybe she would understand...

But of course that was never going to happen.

So she just decided to nod her head when he parents started up another infamous 'sand rant'. And then skip on her way merrily as if they hadn't said anything at all. A six-year-old's attention span, no matter how mature this six-year-old may be, only went so far when hearing the same thing over and over again.

Her parents shared their worried expressions before sighing and moving to either side of her. Both of them took one of her hands in theirs and they continued towards Suna's gates – as a family.

* * *

Her first look at the city was… well black, considering she had fallen asleep on the way there. She came in and out of consciousness every now and then and registered two things while in her 80% state of sleep.

She was lying on her fathers back as they continued on their way to Suna.

They were very close.

She knew they were close because the sun was setting and the stars were becoming visible sparkles shining in the darkening sky. Her parents would have stopped to make camp for the night if they weren't just a few minutes away from their destination.

All of a sudden her father stopped moving and a voice coming from above boomed. "Who's there? State your business!" Sakura, a bit more awake after hearing such a loud call, shrank into her dads hold a bit more, eyes slightly widening and darting up towards the sky. From her position, she was able to see a smidge of what appeared to be a gate made of some kind of sandy-stone like material, but mainly all she saw was sky and brilliantly bright stars that took her breath away. It was hard to see all the stars in Konoha because the trees blocked a lot of them out. She was shaken from her awe upon hearing her Dad's voice vibrating against the ear she had pressed against his back.

"Konoha Diplomats, Kazuna and Takeshi Haruno accompanied by daughter, Sakura Haruno." His voice rang with a certain authority – stating his position above the sentry that had called out to them. Yet his voice still contained a certain degree of politeness. There was no question to why her father was a diplomat – he knew just how to say things.

The sentry paused, Sakura wondered for a brief moment if he was checking some kind of list but didn't have long to ponder this as she heard him proclaim from his position at the top of the gate, "Entry granted!" And the gates opened.

At this time of night most of the Suna villagers were retreating into their homes, it was a bit earlier then when most Konoha residents went home and Sakura got the feeling something was up by the way her father tensed.

"Do you think we should have just made camp back there?" Her mother whispered to her father, trying to be discrete and failing.

"Hush. The sand has ears and eyes you know!" He father was quieter but a sense of dread seemed to escape him for a moment before he quickly got it under control. Sakura was confused again. Her parents could be so silly sometimes, _sand_ having _ears _and _eyes? _We're they losing their minds? And yet, hearing her father and mother scared and on edge put Sakura in the same emotional state. Her parents were supposed to be her emotional rocks that calmed her down when she freaked out. She'd never seen them scared before.

What was it they were so afraid of?

* * *

Their pace was hurried, moving with a purpose. The purpose to get the hell off the streets. Kazuna glanced at her husband and sleeping daughter hoping they would make it to the Kazekage's office – as it was required diplomats report to the Kage of the country upon their arrival – without running into that … that… Kazuna shivered at the thought of it.

Takeshi noticed and drew nearer to her. "Its okay. He's probably indoors by now anyway." He rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, yet they still picked up the pace. A faint breeze blew some sand around them and both of the Harunos shuddered.

Oh how Kazuna wished she didn't have to bring her daughter with them. What if _it _found her? She didn't think of what it would do to their beautiful little girl. She'd only ever seen the monster once, two years ago, sitting all alone at a swing, teddy bear in hand. She hadn't known at the time what he was, so she decided to approach him…

**~Flashback~**

Kazuna sighed and stretched after exiting a particularly long negotiation. Takeshi was staying a bit longer speaking one on one with the Kazekage himself. As much as Kazuna would like to dwell on the question of what they could possibly be talking about, she was tired of thinking and decided to just ask him later. Walking further away from the massive beehive of sand she turned a corner and saw him. A little boy around 5 years old, just sitting on a swing, teddy bear in hand, looking at the ground with the saddest eyes Kazuna had ever seen in her life.

_Is he lost? _She thought, her heart aching for the crestfallen child. Looking around she couldn't see a parental figure anywhere so she decided to approach him and make sure he was alright – after all, her soft spot was children.

"Excuse me sweetie," Kazuna said softly, kneeling down to be eye level with him just like she did with her daughter at home. His head shot up, obviously startled and the sand around them began blowing. Kazuna noticed she's scared him, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you, you just looked so sad I was wondering if you were lost?"

The boy visibly calmed down, and gave a weak smile. Unbeknownst to Kazuna at the time, the sand stopped moving as soon as he was calm.

"No I'm not lost." He said in a quiet, withdrawn, and somewhat vulnerable voice. After a moments pause he looked back at the ground. Kazuna was puzzled, most of the children she met would never STOP talking – save, of course, the shy Hinata – but this boy, he was so withdrawn. Was he shy too?

"My name is Kazuna Haruno, what's yours?" She said, gesturing to herself before doing the same gesture to him. His eyes looked up at her again for a brief while and he told her.

"I'm Gaara…."

"its nice to meet you Gaara. Why are you all by yourself?" She continued the conversation, though in her mind she was backpedaling through her memories. She could have sworn she'd heard that name before. But where? When? And why did it seem so important?

At her question he looked down again sharply and his shoulder slumped. Kazuna thought that there was no one in the world that could look more defeated then this little boy – this Gaara – did right now.

"Because of their eyes…" He whispered so softly Kazuna wondered if the voice had just been her imagination.

"What do you mean 'their eyes' Gaara?" She asked confused by his vague answer.

There was another moment's pause before he spoke again looking directly into her eyes.

"You're not scared of me?" She seemed taken aback by the question. Why would she be scared of such an adorable child? Her heart reached out for him because of they lonely disposition he had. She tilted her head to describe her confusion.

"Why would I be sca-" but she never finished her sentence when a voice overcame hers.

"KAZUNA WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Kazuna involuntarily jumped and stood straight, turning around to face the voice only to see her husband a few yards away from her. She relaxed after seeing it was just him, but went instantly back on alert once she noticed the strain and fear in her husbands eyes.

"What's wrong Takeshi?" She was beyond confused at this point and also on edge.

Takeshi glanced at the now wide eyed Gaara, the sand around the young boy was swirling due to his scared demeanor. Instantly fearing for his wife's safety at seeing the sand move, he calmly gestured for her to come over.

Kazuna glanced back at the boy and knelt down next to him one more time.

"I'll be right back, okay? I'm just going to have a word with my husband really quick." She stood again and walked over to Takeshi. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned about his odd behavior.

"You were talking to a _demon _Kazuna. That boy is the _Shukaku_!" He whispered harshly, his eyes never leaving the boy. Kazuna widened her eyes at this. There was no way… no possible way that lonely little boy could be the Shukaku's host. But if he was, then his question of why she wasn't afraid of him was no longer confusing. She turned to look at the boy again. "See the swirling sand around him? Its unnatural. that isn't due to a breeze, he was going to attack you!"

Suddenly Kazuna's eyes widened in fear, her irises becoming mere slits as she remembered the meeting where that name was mentioned. The Kazekage told them to stay far away from the demon in the village – Gaara. She couldn't believe the supposed demon was this little boy and that she had just disobeyed the orders of the Kazekage – unintentionally of course. But the main reason her eyes widened and she became nearly paralyzed with fear was because she saw the sand moving around the little boy and the spot were she once stood. _Had he been about to attack me? _She took her eyes away from the sand and looked into his eyes. His eyes were angry and strained. He seemed upset all of a sudden and for the life of her Kazuna didn't know what she did to make him that way.

"_Those _eyes… **_why, why_**?" He seemed so broken as the words barely carried over to the two political shinobi standing before him. Takeshi grabbed Kazuna's hand and started to tug her away, slowly at first, then a bit faster as she still looked behind her at Gaara. His eyes widened in sudden fear and anguish and he got up off the swing, dropping the bear in his hands. "Wait…Please.." His voice cracked and was strained as he spoke up. His hand reached out to her. "I… I DON't... PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" tears sprung from the corners of his eyes as he shut them tight, cringing at his emotional pain he brought his arms around to hold his heart. The sand shot out and grabbed Kazuna's wrist, attempting to pull her back.

She screamed. It was blood curdling, awful sound. Half because she was started and shaken up by the sands sudden movements, half because of the crushing grip it had on her wrist squeezing tighter and tighter as it tried to pull her towards Gaara. Burning into her flesh and tearing off thin strands of skin at odd points as the individual grains moved across her skin. She continued screaming and Takeshi frantically took out a kunai and sliced through the sand, but it just quickly rejoined together and dragged Kazuna closer to the emotionally unstable 5 year old.

"Gaara!" A young man with mid-neck-length, sandy blonde hair stood behind the demon. And the sand dropped as Gaara's eyes opened to see the damage he had caused. Still wide eyed, he turned to face the young man. "Yashamaru…" He turned back to Kazuna looking at the mutilated and bleeding wrist. He tried to step towards her, arm outstretched, eyes terrified as he stared at her hand.

Takeshi stepped forward to make a separation between the two of them and Gaara froze, eyes falling to the floor. "I'm… I'm so sorry…"

Takeshi spat at him and then pulled Kazuna away.

**~ End of Flashback ~**

She looked at her wrist, an ugly scar reaching from the base of her palm to the middle of her forearm. She traced it with her forefinger - the bulging pure white skin made a cobweb like pattern and was a constant reminder of Suna's demon child. A child just one year older then her precious daughter.


	2. Innocent encounters

**So this is the Chapter where Sakura and Gaara meet for the first time. How do you think that will go? Also I'd like to thank all of you for reading! **

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto. Just kidding. My dad does. **

**Jk.**

**REAL DISCLAIMER: I don't actually know the person who owns naruto :'( **

* * *

**Chapter 2: Innocent Encounters**

They finally stopped at the Kazekage's building entrence. The wall surrounding the beehive-like-building was the first way through. After that you passed a few doors, went up a couple flights of stairs and walked down a suspended hallway that attached the outer-wall to the building itself. From there you simply had to navigate your way to the door of the Kazekage's office located at the top of the building.

Takeshi rapped on the door with one hand, shifting his daughter a bit so the majority of her weight was supported on his left side. A rough - and undeniably male – voice came through, only slightly muffled through the door.

"Who's there?" it said. Takeshi repeated what he had told the gate sentry. "Ah. The Konoha ambassadors. Come in." The door squeaked open as the 2 Shinobi and their young daughter entered. "You're early I was under the impression you'd be arriving tomorrow because you were traveling with your daughter." The Kazekage stated, eyes glancing at the young girl on her fathers back.

"Yes well, it seems she was quite excited to get to Suna, she was nearly ahead of us most of the way." Kazuna stated, smiling softly as she talked about her precious daughter. _It'll all be okay now. _She thought, _we can keep her safe the rest of the trip._

The Kazekage nodded at her response.

"Well I suppose you're all tired, a room has been prepared for you not to far from here, I'll have my son – Kankuro – take you there." Both parents noticeably stiffened at the mention of the Kazekage's son, but quickly relaxed upon hearing the name.

"That would be much appreciated." Takeshi stated, giving a deep bow while still balancing his unconscious child. The Kazekage called Kankuro in not long after and he easily guided them out of the building and into the deserted streets of Suna. The Hotel they were staying at was just down the road from the Kazekage office – which was a bonus – it meant it wouldn't take long for them to get to and out of meetings, meaning the more trouble they could protect Sakura from.

The Kazekage's first son had a deffinate resemblance to him. The same spiky brown hair, facail structure and broad shoulder. This mini Kazekage, said nothing on the way, and as soon as he brought them into the lobby, gave a slight bow, wished them a pleasant stay, and was gone, just as silently as he had led them there. They received their room key and took the stairs to the 3rd floor. It had a nice view of the city, looking out at a little park down bellow. Two beds were in the room, one pressed against the wall with the window and the other pressed on the wall opposite of it. A bathroom was on the right of the entrance to the room itself and a desk was pushed against the wall opposite of both the beds. A small dining table was across from the bed against the window wall and the desk. It had four chairs lining it, and lastly, a mini fridge was next to the desk in between it and the dining table.

Takeshi placed his daughter on the bed closest to the window – knowing she'd pout all day tomorrow if she woke to find she didn't get the window spot. Both shinobi proceeded to kick off their blue sandals and get dressed into sleeping wear. Then – utterly exhausted from the long journey – fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

Sakura woke the next morning with no one in the room. She rubbed her eyes with her fists and gave a small adorable sounding yawn. She stretched her arms and legs before glancing around and acknowledging the absence of her parents. She quickly pieced together her parents must have had to go to a meeting and probably left a note for her. Thus, she got up off the bed and looked at the desk.

Sure enough, there was a short note addressed to her. In her mothers fancy handwriting:

_Dear Cherry blossom,_

_Your father and I had some very important business to take care of this morning. We will be in meetings until early this evening. There is some food in the fridge if you're hungry, don't worry about its cost. and – because we know you're a responsible young girl – we left a bit of money for you as well. However, don't roam the streets alone, and don't go to far. A 10 yard radius from the hotel, okay dear?_

_Love you forever and always,_

_Mom & Dad_

_P.S Before you leave, tell the lady at the front desk where you're going so she can keep an eye on you through the window. We already talked to her and she agreed to check on you when she had the time._

Sakura smiled at her nick name. She loved when her parents called her their cherry blossom – it just made her feel special inside. a ten yard radius made her frown though. That wasn't very far away from the hotel at all.

Sighing, Sakura glanced out the window with board, pale emerald eyes. Then they lit up and did a double take. Was that… _Is that? IT IS! _Sakura broke into a smile at seeing a small park RIGHT outside her window. Parts of it were a bit farther then a 10 yard radius but it wasn't too bad so she figured it'd be okay. She was getting excited! She pushed herself off of the window she had been leaning against, quickly grabbed an apple from the fridge and stuffed it in her mouth as she slipped on her sandals and rushed out the door – NOT forgetting the key.

Her mind raced of all the fun things she could do as she rushed down the stairs. There were swings! Two of them tied on a small tree, an areas that looked good to kick a ball around and a small play set that even had a slide. It seemed like a good area to make up games if she met any other kids to hang out with.

She skidded to a halt at the front desk – remembering her mothers instruction. She glanced up with wide eyes at the lady at the front desk.

"Is it alright if I go across the street to play in the park?" Sakura mumbled around the apple in her mouth. The lady chuckled and nodded her head. Sakura jumped a bit as she turned to run out of the hotel. She dashed across the street and came to a stop once on the other side.

No one was there. Her up beat attitude dropped for a bit and a hallow feeling momentarily filled her chest. _Its no fun without someone else…. _Then she quickly perked up. _Well, I'll just have to make due until some other kids show up! _She looked around for an activity she could do alone and that's when she remembered the swings! That was a solo activity! She dashed over and sat on one – grinning from ear to ear… but the grin quickly fell. She had forgotten… she didn't know how to swing – her dad usually pushed her.

So Sakura sat there, rocking the swing back and forth with her feet, after all, that's the best she could do. She waited for a bit, just thinking about what she would be doing with her friends if she was at home right now. She and Ino would be trying to impress Sasuke in various different games. Naruto would be acting like a dork as always, and they'd just mess around with everyone else, and in the end they'd all laugh and go home with smiles like always. Maybe Suna wasn't as fun as she thought it would be. So far nothing interesting happened and there was no new people to play with…

It was then she heard the squeak of the swings metal chains as they began supporting heavier weight. It brought her out of her stupor and she recognized that the sound came from beside her. She turned her head slowly at first then faster as she realized there really was a person sitting there! She was going to great the boy with full enthusiasm but then noticed his nervous and gloomy expression. She frowned and stared at him for a bit. His read hair stood out almost as much as her powder pink hair did. She liked him already, but for the likes of her she couldn't understand why he seemed so sad.

After a long silence, Sakura stood up off the swing and turned to stand in front of the boy.

"Excuse me…" Sakura said softly, a bit nervous now that she was actually going to talk to him. He didn't look up. Had he not heard her? Maybe she was too quiet… She reached over to lightly poke his shoulder "Excus-," he jumped instantly at her touch and look straight into her eyes. The breeze must have picked up at the same time because the sand around them began to move. Then he settled down and the 'wind' stopped.

"We….were you talking to me?" He asked in a soft voice, his eyes hopeful. He seemed so fragile as if she did anything he might break. She was so stunned by his pale sea foam green eyes, accented by the ring of black around them that all she could do was nod her head.

It was like that for a while. Them just staring at each other, both not knowing what to say. Again Sakura broke the silence..

"Well… sorry to bother you but uhhh… I was just wondering if you wanted to play…" She said, still at a loss for words. She gave a small smile for encouragement.

"You're not from here are you?" he asked, his eyes clouding a bit.

"No. I'm not is it that obvious?" Sakura giggled a bit and cocked her head to the side.

"No. Its just, you're not running.." He replied.

"Running? Why are you playing tag with some other kids?" She asked. He looked puzzled.

"What's Tag?" He asked, stressing the work Tag for emphasis. Sakura's mouth formed the O of shock.

"You don't know what tag is? Do you guys not play it in Suna or something?" She asked scrunching up her nose a tad as she asked. The red haired boy hung his head sadly.

"Well, I'm sure the other kids have… but I haven't." His voice was so quiet Sakura wondered if he had meant for her to hear that or not. Either way, she did.

"Well that's silly for them not to play it with you." She stated and then grabbed his hand and pulled him up off the swing. "Looks like I'll just have to teach it to you!" She gave him a big toothy grin and shook his hand that she still had clasped in her own. "I'm Sakura, by the way. What's your name?"

He stared at her hand for a while… just stared in awe. Then he smiled a small smile and looked back into her eyes. "I'm Gaara." Sakura was happy to hear that his voice wasn't so quiet anymore.

* * *

They spent all afternoon playing.

Sakura taught him tag, which they had to make more difficult just so playing with two people would be more fun. To make it more advanced, they had to sneak up on the person they were tagging and the tag-y had to try and conceal themself. They dubbed it Ninja tag.

Sakura felt sneaky while playing because she knew a few simple jutsus including a cloning one that she had been working on for school, and when she would inevitably have to perform it to become a genin. It wasn't perfected because the edges of the figure were to fuzzy and rounded and the eyes were blank and murky. It also had a blank facial expression, but it was good enough to fool someone from a distance. It got Gaara a few times before he finally caught on and it became ineffective. Sakura wasn't going to give up so easily though, she set up a few noise traps sometimes to make it _sound _like she had moved somewhere when she hadn't.

Eventually, their game had wandered beyond the playground without their noticing, and they began a game on the roof tops and in the alley ways. Both made sure to stay out of the streets – Sakura so that she would disturb any vendors, and Gaara because… well he just seemed to avoid people in general. Sakura didn't question it, she figured he was just shy like Hinata.

At some point when Gaara was 'it' Sakura was trying to sneak her way back over to the direction of the park after noticing they had strayed a bit to far. She was about to leap across a tricky gap between two roofs, and the one she was aiming for was slightly higher then the one she was currently on. If she centered some chakra in her feet, she should have enough power to make it. She got a running start, bent her knees and pushed chakra into her feet before springing upwards. She knew she was going to make it and she felt airy and bubbly until she saw Gaara standing there was a smug look on his face, arms crossed, ready to tag her as soon as she landed. She was startled and – as to not get tagged, pushed her feet off the side of the building and just barely landed on the very edge of the roof she had just jumped from. She was about to smile up at him triumphantly , point and say "HA! You didn't get me" but as soon as she looked up and pointed, she saw a horrified look on his face, and heard a cracking sound right below her feet…

* * *

**Alright so what do you guys think? **

**Reviews and criticism is much appreciated. :) Love you all for reading.**

**Quick poll: Do you think Sakura should still like Sasuke during the Chunin exams and later on?**

a) YES! of course, you can't just completly twist the plot line, she needs to move into a GaaXSaku slowly

b) NO! Can't you see their connection. she feel for Gaara instantly. And Sasuke is stupid.

c) A little bit. But not as strong and she gradually realizeses she loves Gaara.

d) other? (Please elaborate.)

**P.S I took this idea for doing Polls from: katlou303 LOVE YOU'RE STORIES!**


	3. Such a Talent! My wonderful Savior!

Hello all my lovely readers/reviewers! I have to say I've recently been dying to write this story as fast as possible because of all the positive reviews and favorites of my story I have been receiving. It lifts my spirits and really does make my day! Thank you all so much!

In this Chapter we meet Temari. How does a sibling react towards Gaara? Find out!

Also I highly suggest you read my explaination on why Gaara acts the way he does in this chapter. (found at bottom of page) cause I think some people my be a bit confused with it.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Such a talent! My wonderful savior! **

Gaara had been so surprised seeing someone at his swing, shocked even and defiantly nervous. He just didn't know what to do… He stood there for a while, staring, looking at this strange pink haired girl when it occurred to him he had never seen her before. He would have recognized the startlingly pink hair if he had. He also noticed something else. She was looking down at the ground, looking… lonely. He didn't know what good it would do but he didn't see any harm in two lonely people sitting next to each other.

That thought didn't stop his stomach twisting in fear. He just knew that he would sit down and she'd look at him. She'd look at him with _those eyes. _She'd call him a freak and run away, leaving him as one lonely person. Just like what everyone else did. Her family or other residents of Suna, had been bound to warn her of him already.

So you can only imagine his shock when from the corner of his eye he saw her head turn to look at him and a smile stretch from ear to ear across her face, eyes alight with joy.

His own eyes widened. She was _happy _to see him there? He kept his head towards the ground. _No_. He told himself. She wasn't happy to see him, she had probably spotted someone she knew behind him and was smiling at them. Not at him. He thought this theory was confirmed when he heard her stand up off the swing.

This was it; it would just be one lonely person again, just like always. He felt a burning in the back of his eyes. He had dared to hope just a little that maybe this girl would talk to him… maybe someone wouldn't run away. He began to grip the swings chain tighter when something touched his shoulder and he jumped a bit, his sand swirling protectively.

As he jumped, his head shot up and he saw her, a concerned look on her face. She seemed as though she was waiting for him to say something. He realized he should make sure and dared to let himself hope again. Even if it was just a little bit. The conversation started out awkward but they gradually got the hang of it and with each smile she gave him, every giggle he heard, he became more confident. He liked this feeling and so far, he liked this girl

This Sakura.

* * *

It was fun playing ninja tag with his new… was he allowed to call her a friend? He thought so. And the word sounded so good that it made him grin like a fool just thinking about it. He felt so happy inside, she was _talking_ to _him_, _laughing _with _him, smiling _at _him. _He never wanted this feeling to go away, it was the first time he didn't feel hallow inside, didn't feel the empty aching in his chest. For the first time he felt… whole.

However, there was still the voice in the back of his mind, telling him that as soon as she found out about the sand, she would run. She'd scream and shake and run. He didn't want to think of feeling empty again so he pushed the thought as far away as possible.

A light pressure was placed on his shoulder and he saw Sakura's long pink hair blow past his face. She got ahead of him and turned her head just slightly to smile triumphantly.

"You're it!" She called back to him then returned her attention to what was in front of her, picking up speed as she did so. Gaara's musings had led to him letting his guard down and now he was it.

He smirked. He wouldn't be it for long. He had noticed she was trying to turn the direction back to the park and judging by the slight angle she was using to turn, she would be close to the center of Suna before she had made the full U-turn. This gave him an idea.

Instead of chasing her, knowing he couldn't catch up with her current distance in front of him, he could take a short cut across a few buildings and be in front of her before she knew it! She would run right to him.

He made a sharp right turn and started hopping straight across the buildings wary of staying invisible from the people of the streets, if they saw him they'd panic and Sakura would find out he was hated and start hating him too. He would never let that happen.

At some point, Gaara got to a spot where he could see Sakura heading straight towards his direction, he made a quick and discreet leap to a roof just a few buildings in front of her path. He would be hidden well enough considering this one was taller then the ones around it. He saw her run, felt a slight rise in chakra and then she leapt. His smirk spread across his face as he saw the realization dawn on her. She had fallen right into his trap.

That's when she did something unexpected. She pushed off the edge of the building, doing a backflip in the air and landing just on the edge of the roof she had jumped from originally. She smiled triumphantly again and went to point at him but he wasn't focused on that. He was focused on the buildings edge as it began to crack under her weight. She had been JUST on the tip and the only thing that kept her from having slipped off of it had been the chakra in her feet. That roof was also worn down from age and as it began cracking, Gaara's face contorted in horror.

They were at least 5 stories high and a fall would not be pleasant. She would be seriously injured, maybe even killed. But if Gaara used his sand… she would run. She would cower in fear and run, screaming rude names at him and hating him for the rest of his life. Either choice didn't sound good at all, either one left him lonely.

But he didn't have a lot of time to think about her possibly hating him as the buildings edge gave way and Sakura began to plummet down, arms covering her face, eyes wide in terror and a scream so terrified you'd think she just saw the devil himself. Sakura was the only person besides Yashamaru that had shown concern and care for Gaara and he couldn't let her get hurt when there was something he could do to stop it.

So even at the risk of her running away and hating him afterwards. Even though he could lose her forever. Gaara jumped down using his sand to levitate him - in a sense of the word - and directed the sand towards Sakura to catch her during the middle of their fall. He brought them down to the ground slowly, using the sand to turn her body upright so she landed on her feet. Then he dispersed the sand and looked at her, even though all he wanted to do was look down and run away, he looked directly at her to see her expression.

Her eyes were still wide in terror, whether it be from the fall still or from him he couldn't tell. He dreaded the impending answer, but he just had to know. Her stiff stance slowly began to be put at ease as she registered she was on solid ground and not still plummeting through the air about to be smashed into a pancake. She then turned to look at him, her eyes filling out again and becoming sane. He hadn't noticed it before but there were tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Do you hate me now?" He asked, his voice wavering and almost breaking. He couldn't hold her eyes and looked down. If he had he would have seen her face scrunch up in confusion.

"What … are you talking about," Her voice was soft and the confusion was evident. He could hear her stepping closer to him slowly until she was right in front of him. They both just stood frozen for a bit before Sakura wrapped her arms around him in an embrace. "Gaara…" she choked out the name, and her unshed tears fell down her checks, he could feel a few land on his shoulder. "You _saved _my life. How could I ever hate you for that?"

He was shocked and rigid in her embrace. Eyes wide, sand blowing around them. He was astounded.

It was a while before Sakura let go of him but her hands still rested on his shoulders. She smiled at him and tilted her head to the side in that special way of hers. "That was so incredible! The most amazing thing I've ever seen! Wow, the way you use that sand!"

And that was it. That was all it took for Gaara to look up, he felt more shocked than he'd ever felt in his life and it plastered all across his face, eyes wide in wonder, mouth slightly open in astonishment. It was a wonder his heart hadn't stopped from how many times he'd been surprised today.

"But.. everyone else runs… everyone else…" He said in a voice barely audible. He was so quiet one might have mistaken it for a trick of the wind. He straightened a bit and in a voice as clear as he could get, he voiced the one thing he hadn't wanted her to know. "Everyone else hates this sand and hates me for it. And there are times that I can't always control it…"

"Well," She said, frowning a bit. This was it, she would defiantly run now. "Then I suppose they're just stupid." Again with shocking him. Maybe she did hate him and was using astonishment as a technique to kill him….was it even possible to be astounded to death?

But she wasn't finished talking yet.

"If they hate you just because of a talent you have, whether you can control it yet or not, and don't even get to know you first then they're stupid. You're a wonderful person Gaara, a wonderful person with a wonderful ability that just so happened to have saved my life." She smiled at him again. "They may run and hate you for a stupid reason, but I for one like you very much Gaara, and for a very good reason. Because you're an amazing human being and you're my friend. I have confidence you'll gain full control of your sand one day."

For a while he just stared. She'd probably think he had something wrong with him by the way he just seemed to stare at her all the time.

"Friend…"He said. He undoubtedly considered her a friend but he felt lighter than air to know she thought of him the same way. It was the best thing in the world to him.

"Yes you're my friend, I care about you very much. So please don't listen to the awful things those people say. It hurts to think they cause you pain. Ignore the bad words okay?" Gaara nodded his head. They walked out of the alley way together and into the streets. Gaara was hesitant at first, wary of the way they would look at him and back away, but he tried to remember what Sakura said and ignore it. Even so, he still hid behind her as they walked into the open streets. It was the time of day where the streets and venders were crawling with Suna residents out to buy that days groceries or simply have a walk about through town but even with the crowded streets Sakura and Gaara had an open trail because no one wanted to be near him.

Whenever someone gave Gaara a sour look, Sakura would glare at them, although it didn't do much but make them look away.

"S..so." Gaara said, quiet again now that they were around other people. "What should we do now."

Sakura rubbed her head awkwardly. "Well you see, I was supposed to stay at a 10 yard radius from my hotel and … uhhh… " Gaara laughed lightly.

"I get it." He said, a teasing glint in his eye. "You don't know your way back and are afraid of getting in trouble." Sakura chuckled awkwardly.

"Yeah that pretty much sums it up…"

Gaara smiled and motioned for her to follow him. He knew a shortcut, after all he liked avoiding the streets whenever he went to the park. The shortcut, like many shortcuts do, involved a lot of alleyways, and as any sensible person knows, bad things happen in alleyways.

Except to Gaara, because people had a habit of avoiding him.

So though there were some sharp turns and parts of the journey were damp, dark and bit cramped it was relatively uneventful. When they finally made it to the park the sun was just on the beginnings of lowering.

"Gaara there you are!" A girl with sandy blonde hair in four pig-tails came jogging up.

"Temari." The girl froze when he spoke and flinched back a bit as if she thought he would do something to her. " What are you doing here?" Gaara asked puzzled. She calmed when she realized he was just asking a question. But she ignored it as her gaze fell upon Sakura.

"Gaara… what did you do?" Both Gaara and Sakura were confused at the statement until Temari went right in front of her and clasped her hands in Sakura's. "Is your leg okay? What happened?" Gaara glanced at Sakura's leg and his eyes widened just like Temari's had. A gash was running from Sakura's mid calf to her ankle. Blood slowing dripping down to her foot.

Sakura glanced down as well and her eyes went to the size of saucers. "I didn't know it was that bad." Both Gaara and Temari looked at her concerned,

"Sakura you knew you were hurt and didn't tell me?" Gaara asked his voice sad that his first friend was in pain.

Sakura rubbed her hand along it and sighed, letting out a breath she had been holding. "i..its nothing, just a small scrape, I think my leg hit a pipe on the way down before you caught me." She said. "I didn't feel any pain though…" **(1) **

"You should still get it looked at." Temari said then paused a moment and looked at Gaara. "Wait, did she say you _caught_ her?"

"well his sand did." Sakura said. Then bashfully rubbed the back of her head again, "I kinda fell from a five story building. Hehehe….."

Temari glanced at Sakura questioningly before turning her attention back to Gaara. "Dad says the meeting was called off early and wants you to go home now"

Gaara looked down at his feet again, eyes clouding over. Ever since his run in with the Konoha diplomats, his dad had been keeping him inside whenever they came, the only time he's let out during their stay is when there is a meeting going on. Then Temari comes to tell him its time to go a few minutes before it ends.

"Why does Gaara have to go?" Sakura asked, frowning at the thought.

Gaara gave Temari a warning look and she backed up slightly. She better not tell Sakura. She couldn't tell her. She may except that he could use sand unnaturally, may except the fact he can't control it and may even except the fact that everyone else hated him, but he didn't think she would accept the fact that he'd injured other people before. If she knew that much she would think he would hurt her too.

"Dad just wants to eat lunch with us. It's a family thing." Temari spurted out quickly.

"Oh well I guess I get that, my family is really centered around doing things together too." She smiled at Temari before turning back to Gaara, who had tensed when she mentioned her happy family. "Can I see you again tomorrow, my parents will be out all day again and I won't have anything to do."

Gaara smiled softly. "Sure. Meet you here?" She nodded her head and reluctantly said goodbye, heading into the building across the street.

Gaara continued smiling as he saw her go, looking forward to tomorrow. They began walking to the Kazekage homestead. It wasn't very far away, the unit was connected to the outer wall of the Kazekage dome.

"Gaara," Temari started hesitantly as they continued on their walk. "I.. well I'm not sure you should hang out with her anymore."

"Temari… wha… what do you mean?" His eyes had widened and he stopped in his tracks. Temari turned around and looked at his face. Instantly she had _those eyes. Those eyes. _the wide, thin pupil, terrified eyes that everyone looked at him with. He glared and his voice came out more doesn't look at me with those eyes. Don't tell me who to spend my time with when you're too scared to spend more then five minutes with me."He pushed past his sister and stayed ahead of her not looking back. _How dare she say that. Did she not want him to be happy, to have friends? H_e only paused for a brief second to say, "She doesn't look at me with those eyes."

He had that hollow feeling in his chest again. Without Sakura there, it was just like it was before he met her.

Lonely and dark and hollow.

* * *

So Sakura and Gaara become pretty good friends in this chapter, to bad I'm going to completely destroy that in chapters to come. MWAHAHAHAH that's kinda mean but if you think about he'll still be the same broken soul he was when the Chunin exams roll around, he'll just have memories of the one girl who was nice to him and it gives a basis for them to become friends when their at that age. Anyway I won't give away any more of that.

**(1)**the reason Sakura didn't know that she was hurt was because she was in shock. You often don't know if you're hurt when you're in shock you get kind of frozen and numb.

Gaara has been worried about Sakura finding out a lot about him in this chapter because he's afraid if she knows these things she'll hate him like everyone else. Now his sand control is revealed to her when he saves her life, he ends up telling her he can't control it because he is testing her to see if she could accept that too.

At the same time he wants to see what she would think about how everyone else feels. Kind of like he wants to know what she'll say because she is so different from other people he's met, but is hesitant to let her know because of the possibility of her hating him. HE just decided to risk it.

However he draws the line at letting her know his sand has gotten so out of hand as to hurt other people before, because that's on a completely different scale then just controlling sand and other peoples opinions.

So I know the friendship with Sakura and Gaara may seem a bit rushed. But young kids make friends really fast and I was trying to incorporate that.

We were also introduced to Temari in this chapter. I wanted you to know that even his siblings are afraid of him at this point, showing how alone he really does feel and how much of a relief it must be to have Sakura around. This is one of the reasons he doesn't want to lose that, because she's the only one who treats him like a human.

Thanks for reading and thank you all for your reviews and favorites! Its so good to know that people are reading and liking my story and I hope that you enjoy all future chapters!

**NEXT TIME ON AN ALL NEW: WHAT FATE BRINGS FORTH! (Que naruto music.)**

Can I understand you?

Did you really choose me?

Falling to the death… again?

I wish you didn't know!

**Found out in the next chapter: **Things you shouldn't see!

**QUICK POLL! **Temari and Kankuro are afraid of Gaara, how long should it take them to accept him?

They shouldn't fear him at the Chunin exams, but rather show concern.

They should still be frightened up until Gaara's transformation back into a good person.

Other?


	4. Things you shouldn't see

Once again I thank you all for reading, and for reviewing. Love all your comments and am excited to write more!

In this chapter you get to see a bit more emotion in Gaara then just a sad lonely kid, he also gets angry. Hope you like. There should be only one more chapter after this where Sakura is 6 in Suna. And _possibly _a chapter after that where she is seven, but her parents are in Suna not her.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Things you shouldn't see**

Gaara sat in his room that night looking at the picture of his mom. He kept thinking of Sakura's injury. It must have hurt, but she still acted like it was nothing. What was pain anyway? How did it feel? All he could do was wonder… He fingered the Kunai in his hand and just thought.

* * *

Her parents had fussed over her leg, and she had to admit, it _did _start hurting after she realized it was there, but the wound wasn't too deep and medicine easily soothed the pain. She had wrapped a bandage around it before going to bed, and again when she woke up. It really was like she was doing ninja training, she even insisted on applying the medicine and bandage herself, of course she did have her mom instructing her - but _still,_ it counted for something that she did it herself.

Sakura and Gaara played for 3 days straight, with her parents in meetings every single day she had plenty of time. She had such a good time with Gaara, she really hoped they could stay friends forever. He seemed to be so happy around her and his personality was really starting to come through more. Everyday before leaving they promised that they would meet each other there the next morning.

Today was Thursday and just as she had thought, her parents had another meeting with the Suna council and Kazekage so she had all day to spend with Gaara. The thought alone made her smile. She told the lady at the front desk where she was headed and then sat on the swing, just as she had the day she had met him. As she waited she thought about her knew friend.

Gaara was so much fun! It took a while to get him out of his shell at first but after that he was one of the most fun people she had ever spent time with. He was so sweet and quiet sometimes and he only seemed to be concerned about the well being of her and the other people he met. She didn't understand for the life of her how people could hate someone as nice as that, who was only offering kindness to those around him. _How sad… to care for others and to have no one care for you… _Sakura frowned at the idea.

_How lonely. _She had her own share of trouble as a kid, with others always picking on her because of her forehead and hair color. She was so shy and lonely, until Ino came around and reached out to her. She knew what it was like to be lonely, but never hated. _Such a feeling…. _She clenched tightly onto the swing's chain…. _Should never be felt by someone so pure of heart. _It hurt her to think people could truly be so awful to someone like Gaara. He was fragile enough as it was.

She was still caught up in her musings when some feet got in her line of vision, she looked up with a smile thinking it was Gaara but her smile dropped a bit seeing it was just a kid with sandy brown hair, and cream colored shorts and shirt with a black belt around the waste. He seemed a bit older then her. Perhaps as old as Gaara, come to think of it she hadn't asked Gaara his age yesterday.

"HEY" The boy waved a hand in front of her face. "Are you listening? I asked if you wanted to play soccer with us." He said with a slightly annoyed look on his face – no doubt he wasn't used to being ignored.

"Oh thanks for the offer but I'm actually waiting for a friend." She smiled politely as she declined. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

He just shrugged at her reply.

"Well when he gets here he can join. What'dya say?" He asked, a hand reached out towards her. She thought about it, Gaara did say that everyone hated him, but maybe if these kids saw that Sakura and Gaara got along well they'd give him a chance. So she smiled, grabbed his hand and they began a game.

It had been fun up until the point one of the girls on her team kicked the ball onto a high wall. Sakura assessed the situation. Even if she got on the tallest building there which only went to 2 stories in the general area, she wouldn't be able to leap onto it. the hotel was distanced to far from the wall to jump from there.

"I don't know any wall climbing jutsu, do you?" one girl asked.

"Let me try something." Sakura said. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra into her feet concentrating like she never had before. "Make room" She said through gritted teeth. Then she opened her eyes and ran, she sprinted up the wall as fast as she could, hoping to hold her chakra in her feet, but a quarter of the way up she lost it, the chakra wouldn't stay in her feet - after all she didn't have the best chakra control – and she began to fall, her body tipping so her head bas like an arrow towards the ground and body parallel with the wall. She tried to throw her weight into a backflip, but was failing and the ground was approaching faster and faster by the second.

Then she felt the familiar sensation of soft sand around her, floating her onto the ground and on her feet. _Gaara must be here! _She thought turning around to see him standing there holding his hands out for the ball as it glided into them and the sand dispersed. The kids all stared at him in terror, and she saw his self conscious side again, just like when she first had met him. He looked up a bit and gave a small smile.

"Here." He said, holding his arms out a bit more for them to take the ball.

"Its Gaara….." some kid in the crowd said, their voice shaking. Sakura thought this might be a good time to step in.

"Gaara!" She said going up to him and retrieving the ball. "You're here!" She turned to face the crowd of kids standing besides her friend. "This is my friend I was waiting for." She said smiling.

"That's who you were waiting for?" The kid who had originally asked her to play with them stepped forward. He pointed at her "That must make you a freak too! Just like him."

Another girl in the crowd scoffed, " Should have guessed she was a freak by her hair color!"

"And that huge forehead." Another voice in the crowd came out. They didn't look at her with fear though, they looked at her with scorn and glares.

Sakura put the ball down and took a step forward. "Look here." She pointed a finger at all of them and took on a strong stance. "You call us freaks but you know nothing about us. Gaara is one of the sweetest kindest people I've ever met and you won't even come near him because he can do something you can't? That's pathetic and monsterous!" she backed up then took a running start and kicked the ball right into the cream clad boy's stomach.

Some of the other kids crowded around him.

"YOU little BRAT." One girl, Sakura recognized as the girl who kicked the ball on the wall in the first place, glared sharply. She picked up the ball and tossed it as hard as she could at Sakura's face. If the flexing of the arm muscle was anything to judge by, then Sakura assumed she had a good throw as well as kick. She wasn't going to be quick enough to dodge it so she put her hands in front of her face to take the brunt of the blow. She heard a thud, a thump on sand and waited until the pain from the blow registered to her brain.

But it never came.

She moved her eyes from her face and saw Gaara in front of her and sand wall in front of him.

* * *

Gaara had arrived at the park, just hidden by the shadow of a tree. He was going to sneak up on Sakura, surprise her. But then he saw one of the neighborhood children walk up to her. He didn't hear the full exchange but he saw her go to play with them.

His chest ached. He couldn't approach her now. Was she choosing them over him? Maybe she thought the prospect of many friends sounded better then just one. _But hadn't she been listening? _He thought a bit bitterly. _I told her they all hated me, and she said that she cared about me and to ignore them. didn't she? Maybe Temari was right… _

He sat down in his usual spot and watched them play. He glared slightly. _How could she? _A few times when she kicked the ball or someone else's leg collided with her bandaged one, he saw her wince. Although he was upset she was playing with them, he couldn't help the way his sand jumped up slightly when he saw her hurt. Then it happened.

The ball was stuck and Sakura tried to control her chakra and failed. She was falling, he could picture her neck hitting the ground and cracking. The image scared the life out of him. For a few seconds all his anger vanished as he ran across the play ground and his sand automatically went to catch her. As soon as he knew she was safe, he was able to exhale. The anger returned a little, but when she turned to him and smiled that smile, and her eyes lit up, it all vanished. He noticed the other kids staring at him like they always did and knew that if Sakura really picked them over him she would be with them, giving that same look.

He retrieved their ball, and daring to hope they might accept it, he held it out to them. Why does he even bother hoping? The first thing he heard was the terrified way one of the kids said his name.

That's when Sakura stepped in. He knew for a fact she was on his side then. And he could genuinely smile, she really _did _care about him. She really _did _want to his friend. For a moment he was happy until -

"That must make you a freak too! Just like him!"

" Should have guessed she was a freak by her hair color!"

"And that huge forehead!"

He saw them glaring at her, sneering and his sand swirled in anger, anger unlike anything he ever felt before. He was going to step forward, but Sakura did first. He was impressed and even more so by the way she hit the brunette boy right in the stomach with the soccer ball. But he wasn't at all pleased with what happened next. One of the girls tried to toss the ball back at Sakura, and as the ball flew towards her, Gaara stepped in front of her as swiftly as his untrained seven year old legs would carry him and instantly the sand shot up to protect him – no, to protect _them. _

When the wall fell he stood, glare firmly in place staring down the very people who used to fear him for no good reason. He was sad, deeply sad but also extremely angry, how dare they say those things about Sakura. How dare they judge him without knowing him?

"That's _enough._" He hissed, his emotions taking over. "Apologise. To. Sakura. Right. Now."

They didn't do anything but back away and try to run. His sand shot out to grab them, wrapping around the ankles of some. They screamed and had those eyes again. He started shaking. Of all the time he'd known these kids this is the first time he'd ever actually been threatening to them and they _always _looked at him with the same eyes they were right now._ Never again!_

Sand shot out to attack one of the captured, but arms wrapped around him and another person took the brunt of the blow for the young girl laying in the sand.

"You can't do this Gaara!" He heard a voice call. It was a familiar voice… it sounded like…

He came back to reality instantly. The arms around him belonged to Sakura and he could barely hear her saying "pleasestoppleasestoppleasest op, Gaara, you're better then this. Better then them. Pleasestoppleasestop…." When the sand dispersed from its target, he saw his uncle and his eyes widened even more.

"Yashamaru…"

He looked around at the kids… at Sakura's arms around his him, at Yashamaru's injured arm and forehead. And he sank to his knees. Sakura kneeled beside him and Yashamaru walked up to them. The kids had run off screaming as soon as the sand had released them.

"I think its time for you to go home little girl," Yashamaru said, directing his attention to Sakura.

"No." She said firmly. "I'm not leaving Gaara."

"You should go.." Gaara spoke up. "You shouldn't… shouldn't have seen that…." His eyes were trembling, sight going blurry eyes burning. "I… I.." He collapsed into his hands, shoulders shaking. Sakura tried to put a hand on his shoulder but his sand blocked the touch. "GO!" he yelled. And after a few of the longest moments of his life… she went.

That was the first time they didn't promised to meet again.

* * *

Alright things are a bit shaken up now. Gaara gets a bit angry at Sakura. However, as stated in my author note before, Sakura is a breath of fresh air to him because she's the only person who doesn't fear him and treats him like a human and he really needs that. Well… she didn't fear him we'll have to see if that's changed due to recent knowledge she's gained.

I mentioned Sakura's past in this chapter because I figured she needed to be able to connect to Gaara's emotional pain to a certain degree. Now, she can't comprehend it as well as Naruto can because she's never been despised by all the people she's ever met like those two have. But She does know what its like to be lonely and in that dark place of loneliness.

Also I didn't really change anything about him attacking the kids then what it was like in the anime. When he went to attack, he was mad at them for looking at him that way, and here he was mad for the same reason. His reason to try and pull them back to him in the anime had been so he wouldn't be lonely and here it was so they would apologize to Sakura so that is something I did change.

Also did you notice that Gaara hasn't been able to stay mad at Sakura for long periods of time. Also have you noticed she falls a lot?

Cause she does.

Twice already.

I think there will be one more chapter with Sakura in Suna.

**NEXT TIME ON AN ALL NEW: WHAT FATE BRINGS FORTH! (Que Naruto music.)**

What is love? What is pain?

Meeting the parents?

Is it Assassins or sand?!

**Find out in the next chapter: **The Sand who despise the Leaf.

I might change the title of the next chapter but that's what I have for it so far.


	5. The Sand that Despises the Leaf!

**I WANT TO BEG FOR YOU'RE FORGIVENESS! I am SO sorry this update is SO Late! I've been in the process of moving over seas, we took some vacation time in between as well and on top of it all I just started at a new school! So I'm so sorry about this lateness! To make up for it, this chapter is Extra long and full of important details. I tried to get it out as soon as possible so I apologize for any sloppiness! **

**ON WITH THE STORY! **

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Sand that Despises the Leaf!**

Gaara stared at his mother's picture again but he didn't really see it. Instead his mind was replaying the days events over and over in his head. The kids picking on Sakura and him… the anger returned just thinking about it but what made it all worse was the fact that he had basically attacked them, probably almost _killed _one of them. And in front of_ her_.

He clenched his fists tighter and tighter. _Did she hate me now? And what about Yashamaru? Does he hate me to? _Gaara squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he remembered his sand dispersing and seeing Yashamaru with that disappointed look on his face with deep cuts adorning his forearm and forehead. That look made Gaara feel so empty and ashamed inside.

"_you can't do this Gaara!" _

Those words echoed again and again in his head over and over. Then… what happened after that…? Oh yeah… Sakura had her arms wrapped around him and was asking him to stop…

_I must of really scared her… _he thought to himself anger dropping and being replaced with sadness. He opened his eyes and put his arms where Sakura's had been hours ago. He could still imagine the feeling of her holding onto him so tightly. _She probably won't come near me anymore now. _He gripped himself tighter feeling his eyes burn at the thought of it.

He grabbed the kunai he had placed by his mothers picture and ran his finger along the edge again. He thought of Sakura's injury… and Yashamaru's… they must be hurting.. this wasn't the first time he thought about pain.. he'd never felt it before so naturally he was curious. Even more so when it was the ones close to him in pain. So he gripped the kunai tightly lifted it directly above his arm and brought it down as fast as he possibly could only to have sand rush up and block it.

He frowned, "it doesn't matter what I do.. the sand just gets in the way…"

"Gaara." A voice sounded to his right and Gaara turn to see his uncle standing before him.

"Yashamaru!"

"As a member of the medical core, our lord Kazekage has asked me to look after your well being personally." He smiled and tilted his head to the side, "Please, Gaara, it hurts me to see you do that." Gaara hung his head in shame. Trying to lighten the mood Yashamaru rubbed the side of his own head, "Although I suppose that the sand would protect you anyway."

There was a moment silence as Gaara glanced at his uncle and the injured arm he was using to rub his head. "Yashamaru… I'm sorry." Surprised, he pulled his arm away to look at it.

"What this? Don't worry, its barely more then a scratch." That's not true. Gaara thought. I saw… they were deep gashes. But he didn't voice his thoughts opting instead to continue looking down ashamed. But it was nagging at him to ask, so after a short while he did.

"The wound you got… does it hurt?"

"Yes a little bit, but it'll heal in no time at all." Another long pause as Gaara stared, still guiltily at his Uncle.

"Yashamaru…" He started but wasn't sure if he should continue.

"What is it?"

"What does.. pain feel like?" Another bit of silence as Yashamaru frowned sadly at his nephew and Gaara stared at his own hand, a sad smile on his face. "You see.. I've never actually been injured before. And I was wondering what it was like"

there was another short pause that was very common between the two relatives. Then after a bit of thinking, he replied.

"hm… how can I put it.. its very difficult, or more upsetting is what I mean. Like when someone is struck or cut, it's a feeling that's very hard to take. When you're hurt, you don't feel normal. I guess I'm not explaining it to well, basically it's a situation you want to avoid if at all possible." He put his injured arm to rub his head again, and Gaara's none-existent brows shook at seeing the bandages.

"Yashamaru…do.. do you not like me Yashamaru? Like… like the others." Once again he asked hesitantly, looking downcast as if he expected his treasured uncle to say yes. Yashamaru just glanced at him understandingly and began another one of his complicated explanations.

"Everyone goes through their lives, hurting others and being hurt, but its not so easy for us to.. hate one another." Gaara beamed at this news.

"Thanks a lot Yashamaru! That really helped I think I kinda understand what pain is now!" He smiled and closed his eyes, putting a hand over his heart and gripping the cloth tightly between his childlike fingers. Yashamaru stared curiously down at him.

"I think… I might be hurting too. Just like everyone else." He tried to explain. "I'm.. always in pain… I know I'm not bleeding, but lately I've felt a lot of pain here" He gripped his shirt tighter, his face morphing into one of great grief.

Yashamaru walked over after a short beat and took the kunai that Gaara still held in his hand. Holding out his own hand, he sliced a bit of his ring finger much to Gaara's shock and horror. The young boy watched as blood dripped down his finger.

"Wound your body, and the blood will flow following fast on the heals of pain," Yashamaru turned to look at the self inflicted injury, "But as time passes the pain eventually fades away. With the help of medicine it can heal even faster." He outstretched his had for Gaara to have a closer looks. "But even more dangerous," He lifted his other uninjured hand to hover over his own heart, "is a wound dealt to the heart, cause there's nothing that has more trouble healing."

Gaara looked up a tiny bit. "A wound to the heart?" his voice was full of vulribility and childlike curiousness.

"Wounds to the heart are a little different then wounds to the flesh, unlike an injury to the body, there is no medicine for a wounded heart, and sometimes it never heals." Gaara, who had previously let go of his clothes, lifted his hand up again to grab the area of his pain, looking very scared.

"But don't worry, there is ONE thing that can mend a broken heart," Gaara's gaze lifted in astonishment. "but it's a very complicated remedy that can only be administered to you by another person."

"So then what am I suppose to do?" he asked worried, desperate.

"Theres one thing that can heal the heart, only one." Yashamaru glanced at the picture of Gaara's mother and in turn Gaara looked to. Taking a glance back at his nephew he told him, "Its love Gaara."

"Love?" He asked confused.

"You've got it." Gaara looked confused as ever.

"But… but how am I suppose to get rid of it? How do I get rid of this pain?"

"Love is the hearts desire to serve someone precious to you. To watch over them. To care for them. The sand rushes to protect you just like the love of a mother. I believe, that my sister loved you very much and that her will is carried out in every grain in that sand. There's no question to me that my sister always loved you. And you're very special Gaara I hold you very dear to me"

"Yashamaru, thank you for all of your help." He smiled brightly. "I think I really understand. My pain always goes away when I'm around Sakura or you. So as long as am with you guys I think I'll be okay!"

Yashamaru's eyes widened. "Sakura? Do you mean that girl from earlier?" He asked cautiously. Gaara looked a little confused.

"Yes of course. She's my dear friend… but… I think she hates me now.." Gaara looked down sadly once again. Yashamaru shifted unsteadily.

"No, I'm sure she doesn't." He said. Gaara tilted his head slightly, did… Yashamaru's jaw just clench? His words seemed more forced… Yashamaru began sucking the blood from his finger trying to change the subject, Gaara, brushing off what he thought he just saw, walked over slowly and gently placed the finger in his own mouth, hoping to sooth some of his uncles pain. Yashamaru smiled gently at him and after a short while told him he had to go.

"Why?" Gaara asked his uncles back as soon as he reached the doorway.

"Nothing special, there's just a meeting the Kazekage has to prepare for and I was suppose to deliver him some news." He turned to face Gaara and smiled. "Don't worry I' won't be long."

And with that he left Gaara alone. He turned his head to gaze out the window where a sandstorm was raging. He put his tongue to the roof of his mouth taking in the taste of the blood that was left over. Staring out into the sandstorm he thought…

_It tastes like Iron._

* * *

The next day was a bright and sunny Suna morning. What made up the few desert birds that there were, were chirping and Gaara awoke with a smile on his face, thinking of the fun he and Sakura would have.

_oh wait_, his face fell_… I still don't know if she hates me_…Once again he wrapped his arms around himself as if it would bring back her own. Then he remembered what Yashamaru said and decided not to give in to sorrow, after all Sakura hated when he looked sad, and Yashamaru said she wouldn't hate him. And.. She had stuck up for him even after everything the kids said. She was very understanding of him this far and he was sure she'd understand he just wanted to protect her! So even though he was still a bit hesitant, he got dressed quickly and headed to the park as soon as possible. He didn't expect her to be there until later but he was so excited he just couldn't wait!

Dashing through the streets merrily he was spewing an aurora of happiness and the few villagers he passed by at first froze in terror, then heads tilted in confusion at said smiling boy who decided to ignore their fearful gazes and give them his smile that just couldn't fall off his face. Their eyes would then widen in Shock rather then fear and they would exchange glances before giving a hesitant smile in return.

"What's… gotten into Lord Kazekage's son?" One said. Gaara heard and noted joyfully they called him Lord Kazekage's son rather then "demon".

"I.. don't know…." Another replied then with a hearty laugh said "but I hope it lasts a long time!" Every villager who normally looked at the boy with fear and scorn and hate had to admit, it was impossible not to be happy if he passed you this day, his joy was too contagious and soon all the villagers were peeking around corners to get a glimpse of the child they normally went out of their way to avoid, all whispering in shock and smiles on their faces.

"Is that really Gaara?"

"No way it can't be, Gaara is usually glaring at everyone" (at least that what they saw)

"But… this child seems so…. Extraordinarily happy…."

"I KNOW!" one women gushed, "I feel happy just being this close to him!" and by that she meant peeking around the corner of where the park was. Gaara was happily swinging while he waited for Sakura to come out. There were nearly thirty villages and counting peeking at the boy, and many would swear to you they saw flowers around him. He smiled and laughed and a few people nearly melted from the joy coming from him.

Gaara on the other hand was happy and smiling, oblivious to the stalkers and feeling no heaviness or pain in his heart because he knew when Sakura came – he refused to let an if replace the when – they would have loads of fun all day! He'd get to see her wonderful smile, a smile directed at him, and they could play ninja tag again! Oh the joys!

The hotel doors across the street from the park opened and Gaara's head shot in that direction hoping it was Sakura but it was just two people, a man and a women, who looked awful familiar. Gaara didn't stop to think about it as they saw him and began scurrying away, obviously not caring if he looked happy or not, they just didn't want to be close to him. His heart saddened slightly before looking up by chance at one of the hotel windows where he saw a flash of pink hair, brilliant green eyes and a dazzling white smile showering itself upon him.

The villagers around the corner watched all of this, and all of them were still a tad confused as they couldn't see what he was smiling at. **(read more about this village of stalkers in authors note to gain better understanding of their purpose)**

His eyes lit up and he waved to the window and to his utter joy she waved back and held up a finger, signifying she'd be down in a second. And a second it was, she dashed out of that building as fast as her little 6 year old legs would carry her. She skirted to a halt when she came to the street, looked both ways and then dashed across. Gaara jumped off the swing and ran up to Sakura pausing a little ways away from her.

This the villagers also saw and a few of them began piecing it together but most of them had question marks hovering over head.

"Hey Gaara! I'm so glad you're here! I was afraid you wouldn't come back today!" She beamed at him.

Gaara froze in shock.

The villagers started backing away slowly, afraid of what was going to happen.

"I.. I was worried _you_ wouldn't come… I thought you hated me…" He said hesitantly glancing down.

The villagers stopped backing up, did they just hear correctly? They saw the pinkette smile brightly once more but a bit softer.

"Don't be silly Gaara! I could never hate you! You're my precious friend!"

With that Gaara couldn't stop himself, and all the villagers looked on in Awe as The Kazekage's third child, host to the Shukaku and feared by all, blushed bright red and latched his arms around the young girl before him in a gentle, but firm embrace.

After the few seconds it took Sakura to realize what was going on, she hugged him back and both their faces turned as red as the junchuriki's hair.

For those who didn't get the idea before, light bulbs turned on all at once over all their heads.

"HE'S IN LOVE!?" They all shouted in disbelief having their mouths covered by the people who had figured it out way beforehand. Everyone ducked behind the corner as Sakura and Gaara's heads snapped in their direction. The question echoed through out the entire village and the civilians who had no idea what was going on glanced in the direction of the source in confusion.

Even the Kazekage, sitting in his tower welcoming the diplomats back for their second to last meeting, heard it. And everyone had the same question in their head, even the people who just witnessed what they did.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

* * *

Sakura and Gaara glanced toward a loud shouting of "HE'S IN LOVE?!" but found nothing in that general area. Perplexed they glanced at each other to notice their faces were mere inches apart due the proximity of their hug, blushing like mad they pulled back. To be honest, Sakura had never been so close to a boy before, most just laughed at her cause of her hair and perfectly normal sized forehead.

Gaara was blushing for a similar reason and because well, while he was waiting for her to come out…. He had been thinking and Yashamaru's description of love pretty much summed up how he felt about his new and only friend. **(read more about this in authors note so you are not confused on my intentions thank you)**He had the desire to serve her and she was precious to him. He wanted to watch over and care for her forever, just like she had been doing for him for the past couple of days. So… this must mean he loves her right? That was what his 7 year old mind thought of anyway.

After a short pause and Scuffling feet, Gaara turned to give Sakura a small smile, she returned the smile encouraging him to speak. "So what should we do today?" He asked.

"Well… my parents don't want me to leave within a ten mile radius but I kinda broke the rule the first day we met and then on, and well I'm sure they just didn't want me leaving cause they thought it was dangerous. They had no idea I would meet you and have you to protect me." Her grin widened. "So I was wondering if you could show me around Suna a bit? I didn't get to see much when I was trying to run from a person trying to tag me!" Gaara smiled happy to see her happy and extended his hand.

"Sure come on! I'll show you some cool spots!"

With that they were off, the thirty or so curious villages right behind them watching the whole time, some ran back to their houses to get snacks for everyone else as they watched the two. Eventually when they came to a street that inevitably had to be crossed, the villagers that yet had to encounter Gaara that day went through the same reaction of the ones that were currently stalking the two young kids. And then they realized the reason for all the shouting earlier.

Most people didn't know what to do, but Gaara was still beaming brightly and as previously stated, no one could help but be happy with him like this. So they just continued with what they were doing, a lot of them sweat dropping due to this more then odd situation.

The villagers stalking Sakura and Gaara dispersed into the crowed as to not be noticed to much and then began chatting with each other and with others who were yet to be filled in on the entire situation, of which they took the liberty of doing.

Gaara was still gleeful and although he recognized no one was running away and this just made him even happier, he didn't think to terribly much of it because he just wanted to spend this time with Sakura. He led her to some cool stalls he used to explore when no one was in the streets, there were all sorts of cool treats. Of course he'd only tried them when Temari or Kankuro brought one home for him because no one was ever out when he came, but today a portly man stood behind the stall gazing amazed at the two, eyes wide with curiosity.

Gaara smiled broadly at the man. "Is it okay if we have two of these dango and a a cup of ice cream each?" He asked reaching into his pocket and pulling out some coins that should suffice. The man's eyes widened further.

"You sure look like that Gaara boy but…" he shook his head. "Well if your him or not you're more then welcome to have some boy!" He chuckled lightly and handed them their items.

"Thank you very much!" Both Sakura and Gaara stated in unison tilting their head to the right a tad bit. Everyone in the vicinity had become an audience of the two and squealed at the two adorable children.

That's how the day went. Gaara showed Sakura cool place's he'd been to or Kankuro and Temari had told him about that he never got to experience because normally no one was there. But with today being opposite of a normal day, they both had tons of fun. There was one thing he really wanted to show her. It was a secret Garden hidden within the village. Well… it wasn't exactly secret, because it was a herbal garden for the medics, but not a lot of people knew where it was. In fact, only medics and the Kazekage, and of course Gaara, really knew.

It was down a few twists and turns and alley's so many so that the onlookers lost the two and sighed in defeat walking about to continue their normal lives and wonder about what exactly it was they had just been gushing over and observing so intensely for the past few hours. It was also at this time many of them remembered they had jobs and were late. Very late.

After one more turn and they reached it. In one alley there was a small opening hidden due to a special genjutsu. First you have to break it with a special hand sign, then you can pass through. As soon as you are through, then the genjutsu is reapplied. Suna kept their herbs well hidden because there weren't that many you could find in the desert and thus they needed to keep the supply they did have safe. Gaara only found it because Shukaku led him to it and showed him how to get in.

After you passed the genjutsu you arrived in the dead center of the village, in-between two buildings. There was a roof overhead, making it look like the buildings were attached if you looked from above. There were still a few tricks to it, first you had to unlatch a brick from its place a retrieve a scroll. Then you place it on the ground and perform more hand signs. It opens up the ground and a staircase forms downward. After that you just walk down and through a cave, taking multiple turns here and there, until you reach a cave clearing rich with plant life and a wonderful earthy atmosphere.

There were glowing blue crystals in the walls illuminating the cave. And small skylights from above. The cave was directly under a stream, a little ways out of the village. There was some sort of crystal substance that blocked off multiple holes in the river just above their heads and allowed light to pass through. The light reflected off the multiple crystals in the cave thus providing light energy for the plants. And it appeared the crystals had a light absorbing effect as well, seeing as they stilled glowed at night, they just got dimmer as night wore on.

Gaara knew this because he'd been here many times. Its was the place he went to think in the day time and when he couldn't sleep. He turned to see Sakura's face which was rich with awe and wonder. She stepped forward hesitantly, as if thinking she would disturb the peace of the area with her presence.

"This is where I come to think sometimes, its Suna's Herb Garden." He said watching her observe plant after plant and touch the crystals delicately. "Not many people are suppose to know about it so don't tell anyone okay?" He said. He figured he should feel uneasy about bringing a person here, partly because he wasn't even suppose to know about it and partly because he thought of it as his spot, but if it was Sakura then he trusted her. Upon hearing this information she glanced at him worriedly.

"Oh no! are you going to get in trouble? If you are then lets just leave right now, I'll close my eyes on the way back, my memory isn't all that good so I won't remember where it is! Then you won't get in trouble" As she was speaking she walked over and grabbed his hand walking towards the exit with her eyes closed. She would have hit the wall with her face if Gaara hadn't pulled her away.

"You don't have to worry!" He said trying to get her to calm down. She was still panicking thinking he was going to get into trouble. He just stared at her in interest. Note to self: she was a stickler for the rules. Finally he opened his mouth and said, "I want you to remember where it is." She froze and stared at him in confusion.

"Why? People aren't suppose to-"

"Because it's my special spot to. And You're my friend so I want you to know about it." He cut her off mid way, anticipating another bout of rambling. Her cheeks glowed a soft red at that.

"Oh.. well thanks." Sakura was blushing slightly merely because she'd never been trusted with such a personal thing about a person before. "I'm honored." She smiled brightly and Gaara's heart warmed to see her smiling again.

They stayed there for a long while, lying on the soft underground grass and staring at the way the water bended the light coming into the cave. They told each other many things.

Gaara talked about how he liked a dark red color and black, and maroon and his favorite foods, as well as the fact that he'd never had more fun in his life then he was having right now with her. _Everything just seems better with her around._ He kept that thought to himself.

Sakura told him about her likes and dislikes, how she loved the color red like his hair, and that one day she wanted to be the best ninja there ever was. How she loved the leaves of Konoha and the shifting seasons as well as she loved the desert and feeling the sand warm under her feet (as long as it wasn't to hot of course) She even mentioned stuff about her home, like her friend Ino and how they always teased each other, and her acquaintances, Hinata, TenTen, Naruto, Shikamaru, Lee, Neji, Shino, Kiba and Kiba's puppy Akumaru, and Sasuke who all the girls except Hinata and TenTen had crushes on.

Gaara was slightly sad to hear about her home because it reminded him that she was leaving eventually and he wanted her to stay forever. When she mentioned all girls had a crush on this Sasuke guy he had to ask if she did too of which she replied "a little but I don't know him that well so I don't know if I actually liked him or not." This only slightly eased Gaara's nerves about it but he still felt a bit aggravated, the reason of which he didn't know why.

When the sun was just beginning to lower from its high position in the sky they decided to leave, after all, there was still one more spot he wanted to show her and it had to be when the sun was setting. If they were to make it in time then they should go right now.

As soon as they were passing through the last Alleyway four dark figures blocked their path.

"Well well well." The first figure said stepping a bit closer. "Looky here, two little kids running around?" Their eyes began adjusting to the dark alley very quickly and if Gaara and Sakura squinted, they could see the man had a thin hollowed out face and a lean body. He wore, brown slacks and darker brown ninja sandals with a cream colored tank top that was coated in sand. His hair was in a low spiky pony tail and he was chewing on what looked like a toothpick.

"I suppose we can't just let them by.." another said. He had a bulkier build and a slightly wide belly. His face was slightly scruffy and he wore a bandana over his black hair.

"Now now, I'm sure a little toll will get them across." The shortest of the group had a lithe build with well-toned muscle that shown through his mesh shirt. He also had loose navy ninja pants.

"That's enough of that," The forth stated, he appeared to be the leader, a cigarette was in his mouth he wore a black shirt with a cream poncho over it. His pants were also a cream color and his hair was messy dark brown that fall past his ears a bit. "Just let them through –" he paused and stepped closer, the kids stepped back at this. "Wait a sec… that's Gaara! Sabaku no Gaara!" He said taking a step back quickly.

For once in his life Gaara was glad to be feared, if it would get him and Sakura out of this dangerous situation.

"Wait then whose that with him?" The thin face asked. There was a pause as Sakura shifted behind Gaara. "some girl… hey isn't that the kid who came in with those damn Konoha diplomats?!" He's voice sounded angry and suspicious.

How would they know Sakura was with diplomats? Gaara's eyes narrowed. The thicker built fellow scoffed.

"In that case forget money why not get rid of one less Konoha brat right here and now" He cracked his knuckles and Gaara's sand came to the ready swirling around him and Sakura.

"Stupid countries always coming into Suna for no good reason… We can take care of ourselves and still be able to over take the other countries if we'd stop all this treaty shit!" the short one punched a wall leaving a gaping hole and sand toppling from the roof. Thin face pulled out a kunai, ignoring Gaara's presence, he stared menacingly at Sakura.

"Come her little Girly, we won't kill ya, just sent a message to keep your Konoha buddies from coming back again." The kunai glinted against the dim lighting and Sakura began to shake.

_Just… just like ninja training… _she tried to remind herself. _Don't be scared…_

Gaara stepped in front of her shaking form further. And his sand shot out and pushed the guy against the wall. The other two went into motion right after but Gaara's sand was much more powerful and blocked everything. However, there was no way they could get out of here without harming them seriously, which he didn't want to do anyway and certainly not in front of Sakura, or charging through, but that could Leave Sakura open to be taken.

What to do!

Sakura screeched a little and Gaara whipped around to see one of the Kunai had somehow found an opening and scratched her cheek. Gaara began seeing red he was in so much rage. No! He told himself. I can't let her see that again!

He didn't know what to do! He just wanted to be outside the Kazekage tower. He just wanted to continue his fun with Sakura! He just wanted to be out of here! With these strong feelings in tact the sound swirled around them both and before he knew it.. he was outside the Kazekage dome… just like he wanted. They both looked around and Sakura hugged him tightly from behind again.

"Once again you were amazing Gaara!" she held him tightly and he had no idea what to do or how to respond. She skipped in front of him, hands behind her back and looked down sadly. "I'm… I'm really sorry. It seems ever since we became friends all you've done is protect me and I've been foolishly hiding behind you or getting into trouble."

"Don't apologize Sakura! I'll gladly protect you now and in the future!" He spurted out quickly wanting her to stop looking so sad. She looked up at his comment.

"Re-really?" He nodded and once again she hugged him and he returned her hug.

"Come on." He said holding her at arms length, "Theres something I want to show you still." He looked into the sky seeing the sun would be considered setting in about ten minutes. He held her hand and pulled her along but her foot accidently kicked something that clanged against the wall of the building. They glanced at each other before looking at it.

It…. Was the Kunai from before…. There was a red metal that ran vertically across the middle and sand was being attracted to the area. Both children could feel chakra inside of the kunai. It must have gotten teleported when they did. Gaara picked it up and put it in his pocket, sure that it would help him find the wretches who hurt Sakura in the future, for now, he didn't want her to think about it.

Sakura didn't say a word about it and just smiled as he grabbed her hand again and continued to lead her through the building. After a lot of walking, they made it, his favorite look out spot on the top of the building. They looked out as the sun set across the whole of Suna. Sakura gasped, astonished.

"It's so beautiful up here Gaara!" She went towards the edge but hot to close and spread her arms out, twirling. "We can see everything! And look at the sunset!" She beamed at him for like the tenth time that day. "Thanks so much for everything." She said genuinely. He blushed a bit and shrugged.

"no, thank you." He looked at her smiling face, and then noticed the cut on her cheek. He walked over to her and wiped the blood off but it left a smudge. His face looked hurt seeing her hurt. She then touched her cheek.

"Hey don't look so sad! Its only a small scratch and only stings a little." She said smiling gently. "Besides if I had been stronger and helped you fight this wouldn't have happened. So.." She looked at him with determination, "I promise I'll become a strong ninja who will be worthy of fighting beside you!"

"It hurts?" Gaara asked.

"Just a little, nothing bad." She said shrugging and brushing it off.

"Well… Yashamaru… my uncle.. he hurt himself yesterday.." he began awkwardly. "and he put the injury that was on his finger in his mouth to make it feel better…" He finished.

"uhh… okay?" Sakura tried awkwardly to reach her tongue over to the cut on her cheek to no avail. "uh dun in tih ih onna irk" (I don't think this is gonna work) she said tongue still trying to reach her cut.

Gaara laughed a little then licked his finger and brushed the dried blood off. Sakura blushed as red as Gaara's hair, and in turn he blushed. "I don't think you're tongue is gonna reach…." He said. Both kids stood in an awkward silence before looking at each other and, like all young kids do in awkward situations, for no good reason at all, they burst out laughing.

"You looked-laugh-so silly-laugh- trying…" He got through gasps of air.

"And did you – laugh- hear-laugh –how I sounded?!" she giggled hysterically.

And once their laughing fit ended they fell onto the roof and stared at the newly forming stars in the sky. Sakura's eyes dropped, it had been a long day. Before she knew it, she feel asleep.

* * *

His eyes widened in shock as a sleeping Sakura began curling up next to him, her body seeking extra warmth from the cold Desert night air. At first he had no idea what to do, but soon he relaxed and leaned into her a bit too. It was nice to be with her all day, he must have worn her out… he was pretty tired too. And he would have fallen asleep.

That is if the Door to the roof hadn't burst open and a furious adult had pick him up and shove him away form Sakura.

He fell harshly – or what would have been harshly had it not been for his sand – to the ground and glared at the source of the hand. There was a man, with a Konoha Headband and a woman with a marred wrist and also a Konoha headband, picking up the newly awakened and startled Sakura.

"Sakura!" The male voice spoke firmly. "We specifically told you NOT to leave the hotel within a ten mile radius!" His voice was harsh and stern and Gaara wanted to get that man away from Sakura – his Sakura – and he was about to until.

"Daddy!" He froze. Daddy? "I thought you only said that cause you thought I'd get hurt but I met Gaara and he would protect me so I couldn't get hurt so I thought it was okay!" She tried to explain tears pricking her eyes at hearing her fathers stern tone.

"Sakura we were so worried!" The women rushed to Sakura's side and hugged her daughter tightly. "We've been looking for hours! We thought you were dead!"

"Mom I told you, Gaara was protecting me I'm fine."

"PROTECTING YOU!" Her father all but roared. "Sakura. He – that THING! Is the very reason we never wanted you to come here in the first place!" He spoke more hushed now but his voice sounded all the more menacing and serious. Gaara's eyes widened and all at once he remembered these people. They were the same ones that scurried away when exiting the hotel and.. he had met them two years ago…

**Flashback**

It was like any day.. similar to his meeting with Sakura actually. Just sitting on a swing, sad and lonely. That's when she approached him asking if he was lost. At first, he had been shocked anyone approached him and his sand instinctively tried to shooting up to protect him but he calmed it down to just swirling motions as a precaution. When she apologized for frightening him, he had the sand calm down.

He replied to her question simply and continued glancing at the ground. He could see her face scrunch in confusion at something. As if she wasn't used to his behavior. It didn't surprise him all that much really.

He began to feel a lot better as the women opened up to him, introducing herself and taking interest in his feelings, it felt so good to have someone listening, looking at him normally and not running away. That was until HE showed up.

Shouting for her to get away she had jumped up and then went on alert asking what was wrong. Gaara got upset now.. at the way he was looking at him and as soon as the man noticed – this Takeshi – he got the kind women away from him. She said she'd be back.

He knew she wouldn't.

Gaara's eyes never left her as she stood once more and walked towards her husband. He knew she wouldn't be right back, the fear in the man's eyes, no matter how he tried to hide it, told Gaara that he was going to take Kazuna away, and leave him alone again.

_No…_ Gaara thought, his eyes stinging in the back with unshed tears. _Please don't leave. _Not another person. He couldn't hear what the man said… but the next time Kazuna looked at him her eyes were like all the others.

"Why… WHY. Those eyes!" The man tried to grab her and run away, and Gaara became sad.. "Wait! Please.." His voice cracked and was strained as he spoke up. His hand reached out to her. "I… I DON't... PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" tears sprung from the corners of his eyes as he shut them tight, cringing at his emotional pain he brought his arms around to hold his heart. The sand shot out and grabbed Kazuna's wrist, attempting to pull her back.

She screamed a scream like nothing else.

That's how her wrist became marred as it is now.

**End of Flashback**

Gaara's eyes narrowed at the man. This same man who took Kazuna away those years ago was now going to take away the most precious thing he had ever had.

"Was he protecting you when he gave you that scratch?"

"But Daddy he didn-"

"And I bet he injured your leg a couple days ago too!"

"NO DAD HE SAVED ME!"

"DEMON'S DON'T SAVE PEOPLE!" Sakura had hot tears streaming down her face and Gaara glared, intensely at the man before him.

"stop it. …" He gritted out, sand swirling around him. Kazuna and Takeshi froze. "Stop.. making her cry."

His sand pushed the two parents away from her as gently as possible and he ran to her, grabbing her hand and pulling her along, down the stairs, but when they reached the end they were met but his own father, the lord Kazekage and none other then his Uncle Yashamaru. He heard the thundering steps of the two adults he'd left behind and soon Sakura was snatched from him.

"Yashamaru! Lord Kazekage thank goodness! This… pardon my terms – monster just tried to kidnap my daughter.

"I wasn't kidnapping her! You were hurting her! she was crying! I was protecting her from you!" He shouted back. He was really hating this man, if he weren't Sakura's father he'd- he stopped his train of thought. .. what exactly WOULD he do?

Just then he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Yashamaru. His uncle shook his head. "Don't Gaara just let them go. That's their daughter."

"Well she's my friend!" Gaara said back. "I…. I don't want to hurt anymore.. Yashamaru…" His voice dropped down to barely a whisper. "She makes the pain go away…"

Kazuna glanced gratefully at Yashamaru. "thank you for telling us about it." She said, vividly. Gaara became confused. _Telling them about what? _He glanced suspiciously at Yashamaru. _What was his uncle up to?_

"This isn't really the time." Yashamaru replied politely, gripping Gaara's shoulder a tad bit tighter.

"Of course," Takeshi said bowing as much as he could with his daughter in his arms. "I'm sorry to inform you we're leaving tomorrow."

"Its understandable." The Kazekage spoke this time. "You are free to go."

"But dad I –"

"Enough. Sakura." He sent his daughter the coldest look he'd ever sent her in his life and Gaara's sand reacted on its own trying to reach out but when Yashamaru tightened his grip Gaara regained control. The last he ever saw of Sakura… was hot tears streaming down her face as she reached out for Gaara over her dad's shoulder.

* * *

**~Time skip 3 months later~**

Gaara had a nightmare every night. He dreamed of Sakura crying as she was taken away from him. For the past three months he had been tormented by it. She belonged with him… not with those people… she was reaching out for _him _after all. He was still so mad and sad about the whole experience and he just kept hoping the Konoha diplomats would bring Sakura back the next time they came… if they did he wouldn't let her leave… but he wasn't expecting them to bring her.

In fact, the diplomats were due to arrive today. He would wait for them at the gate. And seek them out.

He waited hours upon hours, people were avoiding him again. He didn't blame them this time, he knew he was glaring at everything that his face and posture literally screamed "Back off!" And he was glad they were leaving him alone. The only people who mattered were Yashamaru, Sakura and himself.

He waited all day and night had set in long ago, luckily he didn't have to wait to much longer before he saw them, Kazuna and Takeshi come through the gates.

No Sakura.

He was officially pissed. Specifically at the man. He followed them a little ways away from the Gate and then stopped.

"Where's Sakura." He asked boldly, standing and facing them. His voice was strong enough for them to hear, but not loud enough to disturb the peace. Takeshi turned a challenging look at him.

"You will never see my daughter again you little demon." He gritted out. "if you know what's good for you, you won't even think about her."

"She's my friend." He stated. "And I want her back."

"She is nothing of yours to ever have!" This time Kazuna spoke, shyly but boldly. "Please Gaara leave her alone we don't want any trouble.

His sand swirled, his eyes widened angrily and all at once his sand shot out. He was going to make them stop saying such horrible things. They wouldn't be able to speak and- wait… what was that? His attention was caught by a flash of silver and red metal in the moonlight. And his sand dropped all at once. When he regained his senses and turned to look at the two again.. they were on the ground.

He walked over, eyes wide in terror. When he looked at their bodies up close, he could see sand covering them up to their torsos and ragged gashes on their throats with gritty pieces of sand in them. If it was possible, his eyes widened even more. _No. _he took a step back… _no… Sakura's … Sakura's family…_He felt like throwing up, She didn't hate him for everything else but this was truly an unforgivable deed, one of which could have easily been prevented if he had more control. He shook his head, stepping back and then turning around and completely running.

_No! it wasn't me! It wasn't! we're in the desert anything could have slashed their necks and sand just happened to get into the wounds! _He kept trying to find another logical explanation for their deaths. But there was always something to combat it. For instance, he had been the only other person around at the time, everyone was to scared to even be near him and it was late.

He didn't know how it happened, but he found himself on the roof of the Kazekage building, crying his heart out. _Why… why do I have to be such a freak! If I wasn't Sakura would be here right now…_ _What am I?_ He gripped his heart tightly with one hand and held his face with the other.

And that's when he was attacked. It happened like slow motion but also seemed to be over in a millisecond. He felt his sand rise up to protect him and his face froze in shock. Turning he saw his attacker.

_What … _He stared at the man, ready and armed with floating kunai. _Why… why me… why is it always me! _This time he fought back, using his sand he deflected the kunai and without giving the opponent room for another attack, raised them into the air and crushed them glaring the entire time.

They fell to the ground with a sickening thud and blood splattered all around the unmoving body. Just like after seeing the bodies of Sakura's parents, Gaara was frozen in terror again at what he had just done.

"Who are you?" He asked. "What do you want?" Then it all happened. He noticed the bandaged finger, and swallowing, lifted up the mask only to be faced, to his horror, with his uncle Yashamaru.

"You did well Gaara, you did very well." He said through pain. Gaara fell to the ground clutching his heart and screaming into the night. He threw up at the realization and then he learned the truth about everything.

"Why did you do it? Yashamaru.." Gaara sobbed.

"It was an order." Gaara froze and looked up slightly, "You see, I was ordered to kill you Gaara by lord Kazekage, your father."

"My father.." he chocked on sobs. "Why me… why would… my father…"

"You were born with the Shukaku, a living sand spirit inside you, all these years you've been watched and studied as part of a grand experiment. It became clear you could never control it, the Shukaku that possesses the power of the sand itself. The day is coming when you're existence will be to dangerous for the village. It had to be before then."

It took a few minutes for the shaken and traumatized child to process this information. Hesitantly he tried to smile through his tears.

"You.. you had to obey my father… you didn't have a choice." He smiled weakly. Yes, his father he could live with knowing he hated him, but Yashamaru… he just didn't know.

"Your wrong." Gaara's face fell and his heart plummeted so deep he wouldn't have been surprised if it reached the other side of the world. "I had a choice. Lord Kazekage made his wishes known to me, but I could have refused if I had chosen to." Gaara froze, tears falling faster and automatically. He couldn't breath. What was Yashamaru saying?

"I suppose it's because… deep down in my heart, I hate you Gaara. I've always hated you. My sister died bringing you into this world. I can't forgive you for that. I told myself that you were what was left over from her and because I loved her, I should love you too." Yashamaru's half glazed over eyes stared into the moon. "But I never could. It wasn't her choice to have you, to be made a human sacrifice. So she died -cursing this village. The day she died, I felt a wound in my heart I knew would _never_ heal." There was a pause as Gaara remembered what Yashamaru had told him about wounds to the heart.

"You're name is… the one you're mother gave you. Your name is Gaara: the demon that loves only itself. As you must, love no one else. Care for no ones existence but your own. Fight only for yourself, in that way you will be sure to survive, this is the dying gift your mother left you. But it was not out of love that she gave you her name. It was her curse for this village, that you should survive and grow. Her hate lives on in you. You were never loved Gaara… never" With that statement, he pulled open his vest and the hissing of paper bombs was heard. "But now, this is the end."

A loud hiss, a boom and a great explosion, left a gaping crater in its wake and sobbing Gaara protected by his sand weather he wanted it to or not.

"_There's no question that my older sister always loved you." _

"_love?" _

"_The sand automatically rushes to protect you. Just like the love of a mother. I believe your mothers love is carried out in every grain of that sand."_

The sand dome over him fell and he kneeled down on the floor, raking his fingers through the sand and feeling it fall through.

"_its love Gaara" _

He chocked out sobbing more. And then.. his world Shattered and the demon within, truly took over. Angry and hurt he gathered the sand and had it rush all around and then, like a drill, dive into his forehead and carve the kanji for love. Blood trickled down his left eye , the permanent reminder to love only himself.

_So that's Gaara _he thought _me… I understand now. I'm alone. I'll no longer care about anyone. No longer love anyone else. I'm all alone. I am all that matters. _

He became Shukaku and the demons voice roared into the night. He knew all of this was true. He was alone and he was all that really mattered.

* * *

Sakura woke with a start.

It was the fifth time she'd had the nightmare. Not much happened in it. She would feel a pulse, her own she believed, was surrounded in Darkness and then saw red, saw sand and had a foreboding sense of evil as the sand would dissipate and a dark figure would stalk toward her. Then she would wake, breathing heavily and often times waking Ino. So often the girl wore earplugs now.

The nightmare first occurred after leaving Suna, and now, three months later when her parents finally left for there, she was having the nightmare more frequently. She got up and gazed out the window wondering how her Suna friend was doing. Was he looking at the same moon? Whatever he was doing, she hoped he was okay and promised she'd become strong by the next time she saw him. She was starting at the ninja academy next week after all!

Staring at the moon, thinking of him, she can't help but feel he's tied to her dream. Shivering she tries to shake it off.

"Knock it off Sakura." She rolled her eyes at herself and climbed back into bed. But the feeling was still there.

* * *

**Awwww! Wasn't that cute? Its like they had a mini date! Well… until they ran into trouble that is… and her parents saw them together….Oh dear…. And the death… okay so not the happiest chapter ever…**

**Okay this is the part of the Authors note where I do some explaining. **

**Gaara thinking he loves Sakura: **_Well from Yashamaru's description and Gaara's behavior this far compiled with the fact he's a pretty smart kid, I think he would come to the conclusion that he loves Sakura. However, he assumes its more of a family or friend kind of love cause he doesn't know about the romantic stuff yet. (DO NOT WORRY I'M NOT GOING TO RUSH INTO THAT!) _

_Sakura on the other hand knows she cares deeply for him as a friend. _

**The villagers not running away: **_I mainly put this in here for comic relief but also because when a person is radiating positive energy, you can't help but be drawn to them, and for people who have NEVER seen this boy happy, their curiosity is peaked and they want to know why in the world he is like this and if they can keep him this way so they don't have to be afraid of him. While other people don't even really think this person is Gaara because of the major personality change. They are still holding their caution but you know curiosity killed the cat? Well curiosity is taking over most of the caution. (don't worry no one dies.)_

**NEXT TIME ON AN ALL NEW: WHAT FATE BRINGS FORTH! (Que naruto music.)**

"Oh my gosh isn't Sasuke Just the HOTTEST! You're so lucky Sakura!"

"Yeah... I sure feel lucky..."

The rookie nine!

the... undefeatable Team seven?

Sakura's inner feelings?!

What's been going on all these years!?

**Found out in the next chapter: **The aftermath of it all!


	6. The Aftermath!

**Hey my awesome followers/favorites/reviews! I am so happy I have so many of you! every time I get one I'm just like ALRIGHT THEN LETS MAKE ANOTHER CHAPTER FOR THESE GUYS! **

**I especially enjoy when you guys take the time to review I mean, hearing your comments really brightens my day. I also will take criticism, I know I'm not that good of an author and I really want to work to enhance my skill so any constructive criticism or questions are more then welcome! **

_**QUESTION FOR YOU!: What has been your favorite chapter thus far? Least favorite? why?**_

**Chapter 6: The aftermath! **

_Ino and Sakura pressed their ears against the door, facing each other and listening intently. _

"_Oh my god." The choked voice of Ino's mother was heard, followed soon by a thud as she fell to her knees on the floor. "Not Kazuna… Takeshi….how will we ever tell Sakura…" _

"_I'm sorry for the loss." The voice of a man the two young girls had heard early that day made its way to their ears. "Do you know who will be taking care of the girl, any relatives?" _

"_She doesn't have any relatives." Ino's father spoke, the grief evident in his voice even as he tried to hide it. "But we're more then happy to look after her."_

_Sakura was having trouble processing what was being said but as Ino looked at her with a worried look and shock on her face it was clear her best friend understood exactly what happened. _

_Then Sakura slowly opened the door and looked at the three adults in the room, one of them was wearing a Suna headband. _

"_Sakura!" Mrs. Yamanaka ran up to the girl and kneeled down, grabbing her shoulders lightly. "You weren't supposed to hear that." _

_Sakura just glanced at her face, then the face of everyone else in the room, her own features twisting in confusion. "Why aren't mommy and daddy back yet." She took a step away from Ino's mom. "What's going on here…" _

_The three adults glanced at each other before Mr. Yamanaka excused the Sand village man who then showed himself out. Then Mr. Yamanaka came to kneel beside his wife and looking into Sakura's face, with very sullen eyes he began to speak. Except Sakura didn't hear him. All she did was see his mouth moving and before she knew it her whole body was numb. _

_She had no idea what she was doing but apparently her body responded on its own, running out of the house as fast as humanly possible, running into walls on the way with her clumsy stride. She ran and ran until she was standing under a Sakura tree a little ways away from the village. It was spring, so the Sakura tree was in bloom, some of the petals falling slowly to the ground. She huffed and her legs shook, she couldn't stand anymore and fell to the ground. Her senses having returned she felt hot liquid on her face. Tears, she realized. She buried her face in her hands, her body convulsing with every chocked sob that came out of her and then she wailed into the night._

"_WHY!" She screamed, questioning the empty air. Her voice scratched her throat with its rough and shrill pitch, the word coming out unsteadily and her tears caused her to hiccup. "Why!? WHAT DID THEY DO WRONG!" …."what…did… they do…" She feel asleep crying and when she woke, she wondered why no one had come looking for her telling her it was time to come home, that she'd catch a cold. Why did no one comfort her… Then she remembered. The people who did those things for her weren't here anymore, so breaking out into more sobs and spent the next night there as well._

**Six years later**

_Everything faded into black. _

_A pulse rang throughout the darkened area, shifting Sakura's vision. Another one. it felt as though she was about to pass out. The pulsing seemed to be from her own head, as if her head was particularly sensitive and she could hear her heart with every pump it made. Slowly she could make out something in the darkness… sand… that was it. It was moving like it was a living being, it was moving towards her at a rapid rate. Then all at once it dropped and red is what impacted her vision, making her freeze even when she tried to move. Slowly a dark figure stalked forward. _

That's when Sakura woke up, her heart beating rapidly. She closed her eyes and sat up, putting a hand on her chest and taking deep breaths. _Its just a dream Sakura. _She reminded herself. Well, part of it was a dream, the other part was just a nightmarish memory.

That had been the day she found out her parents died. Her reaction to it now was much better then what it used to be. For the first four years after her parent's death, Sakura would wake up from the nightmare every night. She would be screaming and in a cold sweat, so most of the time she spent nights outside, trying to stay awake. Now she only had it once a week and her heart would just beat quickly. However, four years ago, she also had nightmares of how her parents could have been killed, it was gruesome each time but the worst one was when the sand destroyed their bodies, it made her shake and sob for hours. She was grateful she didn't have those anymore.

Finally calm, she sighed and turned to look at the picture of her and her parents on her bed side table. "Morning mom and dad." She said, smiling nostalgically. "You ready to see which ninja team I get put on today!" She stood up grinning hands on her hips. "Don't worry, with me on it I'm sure it'll be the best."

The door burst open then as Ino Kicked it down. Grinning at her childhood friend and housemate she shouted "Stop talking to your parents and get your but in gear! I want to get a seat next to Sasuke!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she walked over to her drawer, grabbing her red dress with white trim and the Haruno symbol on the sleeves and lower front. It had slits up the sides for easy movement and then she put on her navy ninja shorts that hugged her well toned thighs and came just above the knee. And No ninja could be a ninja without their kunai holster, sandals, and… she gazed at the headband on her dresser. Bringing it up to her nose she took a whiff, it smelt new and fresh, like a new start.

"SAKURA COME DOWN! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!" Ino's voice rang from down stairs.

"I'M COMING INO PIG!" Sakura called down, eye twitching as Ino's voice broke through her moment with her precious new headband. Quickly she tied it on the top of her head, using it like a… well like a headband – and then rushed down stairs, zipping past Ino out the door.

"Hey I thought you said we were going to be late." She smirked slyly as she passed her friend by.

"Hey!" Ino ran after her, catching up to a now walking Sakura. "No fair…" She muttered. Sakura giggled and stuck her tongue out at her best friend.

"I was just trying to accommodate you by hurrying up, and now from the distance we ran we've made up for all of the time we could have been walking while you were waiting for me."

"How do you know that?" Ino asked her nose scrunching up. Sakura smirked and began to explain a very long equation. "OKAY OKAY! I get it you figured it out before hand! Sheesh what a brainiac."

"I can't help it if I'm smart." Sakura shrugged.

"yes you can. Its easy, you can just stop studying all the time."

"I do not study ALL the time. I divide my time so I can study 5 hours, train for 7 hours and hang out with friends for 2 while doing chores for 1. And with the time left over I do a little extra of the things that I felt I could work more on that specific day." She left out sleeping because five out of the seven days of the week it didn't happen.

"How can you study for five hours!" Ino stared at her, mouth agape.

"Well I do most of it while the teachers are teaching, cause I already know what their gonna say. And its not like its 5 hours of strict studying I have it broken up in-between chores and friends. While the training is full on 7 hours."

Ino shook her head in confusion. "I swear girl you need to get a life." Then she sighed, "well one good thing about you is whoever is on your team is extremely lucky, not only are you smart but for our age and you just training by yourself you're a pretty good ninja I guess. Well, for you anyway."

"Stop joking Ino." Sakura giggled,

"I'm not joking. I've seen you train Sakura, you work harder then anyone I've ever met, and boy has it paid off, your chakra control tops the charts!" Sakura giggled at her friends statement.

"And how would you know if my chakra control was any good or not?" Ino gave her a hard look at this.

"One time I snuck into your room and saw a chart you made measuring your chakra control. From what I could gather from it, it was pretty darn good."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It was nothing, and was no where near 'toping the chart'. It barely reached the middle. And I think whoever gets you on their team will be lucky, you're mind transfer jutsu is incredible even with its downfalls."

"I don't know if that's a compliment or not… but I'll take it." Both girls smiled and laughed. When the laughter died down, Ino glanced at Sakura curiously.

"Why do you work so hard anyway?" Sakura stopped walking and stared at the back of her friend's head. Ino turned to look over her shoulder.

"That's and odd question." Sakura said lightly, almost to herself. She closed her eyes and breathed in, a gentle smile on her face. "There's someone I want to be worthy enough to fight beside… and…. And I want to protect the people I care about, so they don't get hurt like my parents…"

"Oh." Ino said. Then trying to lighten the mood she walked over and hit Sakura hard on the back. "Goooooood answer!" She slung her arm over Sakura's shoulders. "I feel really protected knowing the amazing cherry blossom is looking out for me!" Ino grinned and Sakura grinned back, then Ino fell forward as a hand hit her on the back hard. She whipped around to see two Sakura's. They smiled and waved before one poofed into a twig that had been on the road a little ways back.

"See. See this girl. I didn't even realized you did that." Ino said as Sakura came to stand by her.

"Well if it makes you feel better you did actually hit me. I'm gonna have a red mark for a week."

"I don't want to here you complaining, I'm gonna have one for a month!" Again the friends grinned and giggled.

They were nearing the ninja academy, only a block or so away now and Sakura was getting more and more nervous about whose team she was going to be on… over time she had gotten to know all of her classmates become friends even, and she liked them all a lot, even though some annoyed her to no end.

"Sooo. Who do you want on your team?" Ino asked. "Any boys that you like?"

"No." Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm not into crushes yet. And I really don't know who I want on my team." Sakura slowed her walk to ponder it a bit.

She knew because the number of boys exceeded the number of girls by a lot, only one girl would be on a three man team. So that left her with two boy partners. Well, there was Naruto, he as a great kid – even If he WAS a perv – and Sakura respected his morals and goal, but he was so brash, and loud and didn't think before he did things so if they were on a team, she'd always have to have him on a leash. NOT fun. Sasuke.. well he was good and understood what he was doing but Sakura questioned his reasoning for doing as well as he did, and even though the other girls fawned over him, Sakura never took to that. He was cool and all but she really wasn't into crushes when she had a goal to achieve. She wanted to be able to fight on a team with Gaara…

At the thought of him, his face instantly flashed in her mind and she blushed crimson.

"HA! Not into crushes my butt! You were thinking of someone just now! Who was it?! And it better not be Sasuke!" Ino warned and pried at the same time.

"I wasn't thinking about anyone!" Sakura defended feeling flustered. "I'm not into crushes and besides you don't know the person I'm thinking about!"

"Who wasssss iiiiiiiiiitttt!" She continued to pester.

"Drop it Ino pplllleasssseee!" Sakura begged her practically sister. Ino straightened and pursed her lips a bit.

"Okay, I will for now but only because I want you to ask me who I want on my team and I'm sure I'll get the answer out of you later anyway." Sakura sweat dropped, it was true, when Ino wanted to know something nothing stopped her from knowing it.

"Fine fine. Who do you want on your team?"

"Sasuke of course!" Ino's reply was instant, not even a pause between the question and answer. "He's so dreamy! But it seems you're the only girl he even acknowledges! Its so unfair! How did you do it?"

Sakura sweat dropped once again. "Hey don't look at me! I'm not trying to get his attention I've only ever talked to him once."

"AND HE RESPONDED!" Ino stopped walking right outside the academy and gripped Sakura by her shoulders.

"He was kinda… the one that started the conversation…" Whoops… wrong thing to say. Ino started shaking Sakura mercilessly. She thought she was going to die. Because that is a possible cause of death – death by Ino fan-girl mode. Seriously…. It is.

"WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!"

"Ino chill! It was 3 years ago, we weren't exactly on speaking terms at the time." Ino stopped shaking the girl before her and concealed the grimace that came along with that mention. Shaking it off she turned to face the academy.

"Well you'll have to tell me about it later! Right now I have to claim my seat next to Sasuke!" She began skipping to school.

"Wait up Ino!" Sakura called after her.

They girls entered the classroom and Ino's eyes instantly feel on Sasuke. "There he is! Aw but that village idiot Naruto is sitting next to him." She grinned at Sakura and her eyes gleamed.

"What is it Ino…."

Sasuke was sitting in his chair, acting all nonchalant and cool as usual. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the door burst open and Sakura and Ino enter. He almost – ALMOST- looked over at the pink haired girl. Normally he wasn't interested in girls, he had to get revenge on his brother after all, but this one… this one was different. All because of three years ago.

**Flashback **

Sasuke was used to all the girls in his class following him and fawning over him. It was so irritating they were all so clueless… He wasn't going to care about them in a million years, they didn't understand his pain, they didn't have everything ripped from them. He had big goals ahead of him and here they were, thinking of simplistic unrealistic idiot ordeals.

But there was one. One person out of all the people that interested him. A young girl with pink hair that hardly came to school, and when she did it with his biggest fan girl Ino, but the pink haired girl never even glanced in his direction.

He looked into her eyes once - they looked dead and even he shivered.

She hardly ever showed up, only for test days and yet somehow she had 100% in the class, every time they posted results his and her name were tied. It always made him angry, he wanted to know what this girl was doing, it didn't even seem like she was trying. So one day he followed her back from school. It shocked him when she didn't go home, instead she went outside the town a bit into a forest just within the village gates. Not many people came her because it wasn't really important to. Yet he saw a dirt path that was about the width of the girls feet. It must have formed over a lot of time.

He hid behind trees as he saw her stop before a not yet bloomed Sakura tree. It was the autumn after all. She took out five kunai and five shuriken and ran her finger along them, observing her surroundings. He looked around and saw targets spread out throughout the circular area, none of the targets were hidden so it was looking like it would be basic practice, tossing one at a time. However, to his surprise, she threw all at the same time. Nine hit, one missed. He froze as he felt the kunai wiz by his ear and hit the side of the tree he was in front of. (his head hide been peeking past the side of one that covered his body and his head must have been in the way of her target.) He froze even more as she turned her dead eyes in his direction.

"Are you going to stop following me yet." Her voice was just as dead as her eyes. "You're blocking my target, you're lucky I've practiced this enough to have not killed you." She slowly walked around the area, picking up her weapons that were embedded in different trees, some of the trees had multiple targets at different heights, and some kunai were in messily home-made targets. Then she came up next to his face and yanked the kunai out of the tree behind him. "You can leave now."

He knew he could do better then her, could have even blocked the kunai had she sent it in its destined path, and he practiced with hidden targets. But compared to what the other ninja in his class did she was really good.

He reached out to grab her arm only to have the figure poof away. _A substitution?_ He was shocked and looked around, holding a kunai incase this emotionless girl tried to attack. "Are you finished yet I said you can go." He heard a voice above him and tossed his Kunai. She blocked it with her own easily as she looked at him from her upside down position, her chakra allowing her to walk on the bottom of a tree limb.

"Hey I want to ask you something!" He called. She jumped down in front of him and stared. They just stared at each other until finally she sighed, did that mean she was irritated? And pushed past him roughly to stand in the middle of the clearing again. She created three earth clones and they all looked at him. "If you're not going to ask then as I said before, you may leave."

For a second he thought she was going to attack but instead, they all started attacking her. He didn't leave, just watched as she continued her training with herself, creating clone after clone, using attack after attack. She was certainly skilled… _maybe…. Maybe she's even as good as I am… _he thought as she looked on. By the end of it she was in the middle of the clearing again huffing and puffing, he walked out to her and as soon as he touched her shoulder she poofed into a tree branch. _Substitution jutsu. _

"Why did you stay." A voice said behind him, making him jump. _What is with this chick does she get some sick pleasure from freaking the hell out of me? _He thought as he stared at her with steely determination.

"I wanted to ask why you're so different from everyone else." He said. She just blinked.

"What a stupid question." His eyes brow twitched as he tried to hold his patience with this girl. His fist clenched. "I'm different because I'm an individual being, everyone is their own individual." She walked past him again and began climbing the Sakura tree. "If that was all you had to ask you could have gotten the same answer from anyone. What a waste of time."

"That's not what I meant." He turned to look at the girl who was hidden in the leaves of the tree.

"Oh it wasn't?" her head and torso became visible as she hung upside down from a branch, by her knees this time as she was low on chakra.

"I meant, how are you so smart and this strong.. what do you do everyday."

"You just saw the jist of what I do." She said. "Other then that I study, I don't have to go to school because I already know what their going to teach and I know I could teach it better. And I try out new techniques everyday." After another pause she spoke again, "Does that answer satisfy you?"

"Why?" She quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you do it?" He clarified.

"Why? … to kill the person or persons that murdered my parents of course." She said looking at him like it was just a simple thing. No big deal. Was she seriously that devoid of emotion? But her answer struck a cord with him… after all he wanted revenge too.

"Why is it so important? Don't you just have other family?" He scoffed, his revenge made a lot more sense, after all his entire family was murdered not just his parents.

"no." this answer surprised him. "I have no one. No one cares about me the same way or knows me the way my family did. So in a sense I am alone." So… her whole family _was _techniquallymurdered. Even if it was just two people did the number really matter?

"So what, you live in this tree?" She just shook her head.

"Stop asking silly questions, of course I don't. I live with Ino."

"Then why don't you go there?"

"I don't want to wake her up at night. Besides, if they really wanted me there they'd come looking for me wouldn't they. I'm just … just a burden…." Now he saw something in her eyes. It was faint and well hidden, but he saw… loneliness.

There was a lot more back there too, you just couldn't see it. As if she was doing everything to hide it. He felt extremely connected to this girl all at once that it wasn't even funny. He had a lot to think about and with that he said the stupidest thing that ever came out of his mouth.

"Well if you don't want to sleep in the cold, the Uchiha compound has a lot of rooms." Silence. "Alright then…" he began walking home and half-way he heard a footstep behind him, turning he saw her, staring at the back of his head.

"You were following me?"

"You offered didn't you? Or … did I misread it?" He blinked… so she hadn't said or done anything because she was waiting for him to show her the way home? Strange.

That night he woke to screaming. And he learned why she didn't stay at Ino's house, but he was grateful because the screaming woke him from his own nightmare.

A year later he heard about her again. Apparently she was in the hospital after attempt to stop a robbery and then next time he saw her, her eyes were lit up again, and she had the most brilliant personality her ever saw. Now that she was acting like a normal person, he figured he'd lose interest, that she'd get a crush on him like all the other girls and stop training.

How wrong he was. She never got a crush on him or glanced his way, she was always studying the most in class, and one day he looked to see her notes and saw she wasn't even on the same book that the academy had given her, it was titled "Self training for Chunin." And she was vigorously taking notes from it. Later that day, he was subconsciously brought to the spot he saw her training the day he first talked to her, and she was practicing the moves and jutsu from the book.

She was working harder then he ever saw her and he couldn't help but wonder…. Why? She must not have give up on revenge when the dead gaze vanished from her eyes if she was still working this hard.

That was the one question he never got answered.

**End of flashback**

Others would describe his interest in her as attraction but he thought of it more as curiosity. Girls were stupid but she wasn't. Girls were weak but she could sneak up on him. Girls were foolish but she had her priorities straight. To Sasuke, Sakura was an enigma, and enigma that just so happened to be coming this way.

_So _Sasuke thought smirk to himself triumphantly as Sakura stopped next to Naruto, smiled apologetically and tossed him out of his chair, _She finally likes me, I knew it would happen, sigh, guess she's just a boring old girl after all. _Even with that thought he felt pretty uplifted with the thought that she like him.

"There you go Ino." Sakura's voice broke through his train of thought and his eyes widened slightly.

"Thanks Sa-ku-ra! I owe yeah."

"Yeah Yeah as long as you keep up your side of the bargain and don't ask about me blushing again." She rolled her eyes and, if Sasuke was anyone but Sasuke, he would have described it as cute. He was getting a bit annoyed actually. After years and years of waiting for her to stop being interesting and like him already she was up to the same old thing, like he was just another person rather then the – quite good looking – last Uchiha. She either had to like him and was just trying to get him in some kind of mind game or… she already liked someone else.

Realizing what he was thinking about, Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts and instead muttered, "stupid girls" stupid girls indeed, he looked to see practically all of the girls in class fighting about him while the most troublesome girl of all sighed and sat down next to Hinata. Everyone was well aware Hinata liked Naruto so she wasn't a problem but Sakura… _Damn it I'm thinking about it again! _

Sakura smiled apologetically at Naruto as he called over to her and she promptly yanked him out of his chair.

"There you go Ino." She sighed as Ino hurried over thanking her. It didn't take long for Sasuke's other fan girls to begin fighting over the seat. Meanwhile Sakura bent down and made sure Naruto was okay. He blushed and told her he was fine.

"Hey Sakura, why are they all so obsessed with him. Its always Sasuke this, Sasuke that!" Naruto asked. She shrugged.

"Well from what Ino tells me they all think he's cute and I already know he's strong and to any girl that's appealing. And I suppose they like his mysterious attitude but it kinda pisses me off…." She blinked realizing he wasn't listening and was instead glaring at Sasuke while crouching on the table in front of said boy.

"NARUTO!" Ino shouted. "Stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura swore she saw lightning between the two as she sighed for the umpteenth time that day and took a seat next to her second closest friend, the Hyuga heiress.

"They really need to get over him…." A boy said from behind them. Sakura glanced at him.

"Tell me about it." The boy then glanced at her curiously.

"So why don't you like him?" Sakura's brow twitched. This question again.

"I'm not into crushes."

"So you like someone else?" The boy questioned Sakura.

"No"

"How come?"

"I said! I'm just not into the whole crush thing!" Sakura snapped irritated and then saw the boy wasn't even paying attention. She turned her head to see once again everyone's attention on Sasuke but this time, for a different reason. There was truly the oddest sight anyone did see… Naruto and Sasuke, kissing? Sakura glanced at the kid in front of Sasuke and Naruto and barely heard "Sorry did I bump you man –" before he too went wide eyed. She sighed AGAIN.

"Oh Naruto you idiot." She said aloud. _At least all the fan girls shut up…_Sakura thought sweat dropping as she went to help her annoying 'friend' of sorts. The 'kiss' only lasted about a millisecond and the boys started wiping their mouths viciously as if it would erase what just happened. The Sasuke fan club then tried to attack Naruto but Sakura got in their way.

"It was an accident okay he was bumped," she pointed to the guy in front of the two boys and the girls' target quickly changed. She glanced annoyed at the boy. "Naruto you really shouldn't lean so close to people-" she turned to see him observing her like he had done to Sasuke before the so called 'kiss'. "What. Are. You doing?" She asked, a bored look on her face as she already could guess the answer.

"Well if my lips touched Sasuke's when I did this then just maybe-" his sentence was cut off as he was yanked back into his original seat by an even more annoyed Sasuke.

"Don't go around saying ridiculous things." He said. The fan club girls stopped harming their target at the sound of Sasuke's voice and turned to see what he was saying and who he was saying it too. They also noticed the seat next to him was taken again.

Sasuke had his eyes closed, looking all cool as he continued to speak, "let me apologize on behalf of h-" his eyes peaked open as he talked hoping to see her smiling gratefully and fawning over him, but was instead met with empty air. Turning his head to see her making her way back to her seat.

"Please Sakura!" Ino begged. "Just one more time!"

"No way there's nothing in it for me this time." Sakura said taking her seat again and then yanking Ino down to the chair on her other side. "Class is starting anyway." Everyone settled down and shut up as soon as Iruka sensei took his place at the front of the room. He waited for everyone to be silent before he bagan.

Clearing his throat, he spoke, "As of today you are all ninja. to get here you have faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing, what comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only genin, first level ninja's. all Genin will be grouped into three man squads led by a Jonin, an elite ninja."

Everyone was thinking something different.

Naruto wanted to be with Sakura and he didn't care who else as long as it wasn't Sasuke.

Ino obviously wanted to be in Sasuke's group.

And Sasuke… well _three man groups… that will only slow me down… _he glanced at Sakura _well most people would anyway._

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities. So that's how we set them up." He held up a clipboard. "I will now announce the squads."

Everyone in the room was on the edge of their seat. Sakura felt butterflies floating in her stomach – _please give me a good team! _

"Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno." A pause. Naruto sat up and cheered. Sakura sweat dropped and hung her head. _Great…. Now I have to buy a leash… _"And Sasuke Uchiha." Now Naruto hung his head and Sakura lifted hers slightly turning to look at the stoic Uchiha. He was glancing her way and his lips turned up in a smirk when he saw her looking at him. She would have glared but something came over her.

Darkness, sand, red… it went away and Sakura opened her eyes to see people looking at her and Hinata and Ino holding her up right. Naruto and Sasuke were partly out of their seats, but sat back down once she opened her eyes.

"are-are you al-right Sakura? you f-fell all of a sudden" Hinata stuttered.

"Yeah forehead, what was that, your eyes rolled back and the table nearly collided with your huge head." Sakura blinked.

"Was I out long."

The two girls shook their heads, "No, just for a second or two. But it freaked all of us out."

"Do you need to go to the nurse Sakura?" Iruka-sensei asked. Sakura simply shook her head and then class proceeded as normal. Sakura glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eye. _That nightmare… is he… connected… but Gaara…_She shook her head. Its just a stupid dream, it doesn't matter. She decided to pay attention as the rest of the names were called out.

"Squad 8. Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame. Squad 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. That is all the teams."

"Iruka-sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be in a group with a slug like Sasuke!" Naruto stood up and pointed at the subject of his sentence.

"hm. Sasuke had one of the two best scores of all the graduating students. You had the worst score. To balance out the groups we put the best students with the worst student." The teacher explained.

The kids started laughing and Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto you idiot" She knew his score must have been terrible seeing as she and Sasuke tied and were both on the same team with him. She had offered to help him but he had refused saying that if he wanted to be Hokage someday he couldn't be asking for help for everything… it had made her quite relieved that she didn't have to help him but still… "The idiot."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way. Loser." Sasuke said. Sakura's eyes brow twitched. _Rude much…_Sasuke… she never was really friends with him, no one really was, he didn't talk much but when he did, it normally sounded like that. But she couldn't forget the time he let her stay at his house and so he really couldn't be all bad.

"What did you just say!" Naruto Shouted.

"Hard of hearing?" There is was again…. The class laughed more.

"Knock it off you two this isn't a comedy club." Sakura spoke glancing at her two teammates. "I apologize Iruka Sensei." She said smiling apologetically at their annoyed teacher.

Sasuke glared at the desk. Great now he just made a bad impression on his teammate. His eyebrow twitched, and who was she to act like leader… even if she was right. He glanced at Naruto. The two of them already seemed close considering she saved him from the girls earlier… is HE the guy she liked? Sasuke scoffed. _As if anyone (besides Hinata) would like him over me_.

"After lunch you'll meet you're new Jonin teachers. Until then, Class dismissed. Everyone got up to go have lunch and as soon as they were all out Sakura turned to look at Ino. Sakura could feel Ino's glare the whole walk outside the building. She backed away from the angry girl.

"I can't believe it how did you get in his group!"

"I wasn't trying honest Ino we can trade if you want!"

"No trading." Naruto, Sasuke and Iruka all said at once as they overheard the conversation on their way out of the building causing Ino to ignore her best friend.

"I don't get it, what do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special." Shikamaru came over with Hinata, Shino, Kiba, and Choji.

"I know right!" Sakura said glancing at him like an oasis in the desert. Ino glared annoyed at her friend.

"You are so beyond clueless Shikamaru, don't you get it?" Ino returned her attention to the shadow master.

"No I don't get it cause I'm not a girl."

"You are so full of yourself, jealousy is a terrible thing." Ino lectured him. Shikamaru just rolled his eyes. Then the group of friends found a spot to sit down, and were soon joined by Naruto who had been bugging Iruka sensei for Sasuke to get swapped to a different team, and then they began to eat lunch. While enjoying their meal Shikamaru spoke again.

"At least two girls get it." He said glancing at Hinata and Sakura. "Even if its only because they like other people."

"Ugh how many times do I have to say it: I don't like anyone." Sakura huffed. Then Ino perked up.

"Oh that's right Forehead. You never told me who It was you were blushing about." It was at this time Sasuke walked on the other side of the wall the group was having their lunch by. He had just had his own personal lunch, and seeing as lunch was almost over, he was heading back to the academy. It was as he was about to turn the corner of the wall and become visible to the large group that he heard this and stopped. _So… now I'll finally know. _

"INO! You said you wouldn't ask!" The girl looked so embarrassed as she hit her friend in the shoulder. "Why'd you bring it up!"

"I said I wouldn't ask if you got me the seat next to Sasuke, and in the end I wasn't next to Sasuke so now deals off! And I said it because if more people know about it and ask about it, the more likely you will tell me." She said the last few words in a sing song voice.

"You she-devil…" Sakura seethed. "FINE I'll tell you!"

Everyone tuned in and it became quiet, Sasuke inched a bit closer so he could hear better without being seen.

"I was just thinking of the guy who I want to be able to fight on a team with one day and then his face popped in my head and I blushed the end!" She said really fast and really quietly. Her heart beating a million miles a minute with everyone staring at her and making her nervous. Its not that she didn't tell anyone about Gaara, she had told Ino about him right after they got back but she didn't talk about him all the time either because she hadn't seen him in forever and she didn't want to sound as annoying as Ino did every time she brought up Sasuke.

"You didn't tell us Who though! Forehead! Who!" Sakura glared at Ino.

"I've already told you about him before Ino I don't need to tell everyone!" Then she sighed. "Besides.. he probably doesn't even remember me… it was so long ago."

"Oh you mean him?"

"Yes him!"

"Ah Sakura it was 6 years ago get over it."

"Who is this guy Sakura!" Naruto shouted, voicing Sasuke's, and pretty much the 5 other confused ninja's, thoughts. She blushed again and was saved by Iruka calling everyone back. He told each team to go to different area's to meet their teachers. In the case of Team 7, they went into one of the classrooms.

They all were expecting the teacher to be there but after waiting for ten minutes Naruto finally began peeking out the door and making annoying hm sounds. Sakura, irritated by what Ino did at lunch, pissed their teacher was late and annoyed Naruto was being… well Naruto she grabbed him by his shirt and plopped him down next to Sasuke. "Sit down!"

"But I don't want to! Why is our teacher the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll! Believe it! The other teams already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something and Iruka sensei is gone too!" He complained.

"Look we know okay." She took her eyes off of him for one second just to find him standing on a chair putting an eraser in between the sliding door and the wall so that when the door was opened it'd fall on the persons' head, the next second.

"Naruto!" _I am getting a leash… _she thought exasperated.

"That's what he gets for coming late! Surprise!" Naruto proclaimed triumphantly. Sakura perked up and smiled.

"Alright I love a prank as much as the next guy but-" Sakura started.

"Our teachers a Jonin, and elite ninja. There's no way he's fall for that." Sasuke and Sakura said at the same time.

Just then a white haired man with a mask over his mouth and his headband covering one eye came and opened the door and the eraser fell on his head, chalk dust coming off as it did. Everyone feel silent until Naruto burst out laughing.

"I got him! He totally fell for it!"

"Sorry sensei I told him not to… but it was a perfect shot…"

_He fell for that cheap trick, is this guy really a Jonin?_ Sasuke thought.

The man picked up the eraser and then put on a thinking face. "Hmmm how do I put it. My first impression of this group –you're all a bunch of idiots."

All three students felt like they got hit with a brick.

Then he took them outside and onto a short bit of stair on a roof outlook. He leaned against the rail on the outlook while the three students sat on the steps. Then he told them all to introduce themselves, like they didn't already know each other….

_Well Sasuke and Naruto already shared a kiss so I don't know how much introducing they need. _Sakura giggled in her head.

"What are we suppose to say?" Sakura asked

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that." He said spreading his arms out in somewhat of a shrugging gesture.

"Why don't you show us how its done?" Naruto said.

"Me?" He pointed to himself. "Well, I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate…" His bored face shown by his one eye, looked up as if he was thinking, "I don't feel like telling you that. Dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

"That was totally useless all you told us was your name." Naruto said.

"Well at least we got a greater insight to his personality…" Sakura commented.

"Alright you're turn," Kakashi gestured towards them. "You on the right, you first"

"I'm Naruto, believe it! Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku Ramen shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is" he adjusted his headband, "To be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important."

"Alright, girl you next." _Girls her age are more interested in boys then in Ninja training. _He thought, bored an unimpressed as he looked at her.

"Well my name is Sakura Haruno, I like visiting different countries and villages like Suna. I also like improving my fighting technique and learning new jutsus. Outsmarting people is pretty fun too, but I obviously like time with my friends. I don't like sleeping all that much, its to hard, and I don't like people who try to hurt others, I hate it. My dream is to protect everyone and be strong enough to fight beside someone. And my hobbies.. well I pretty much listed those in my likes."

Naruto and Kakashi stared at her slightly wide eyed. Sasuke already knew all of this from the time in the past, he also knew why she found sleeping hard, however he was slightly interested to see that her dream had changed from that of revenge to protecting others. So his hypothesis years ago had been incorrect…so, why was she working so hard harder then ever?

"Next then-" Kakashi turned to look at Sasuke and Sakura and Naruto turned their attention to him as well. Sasuke with his elbows propped on his knees and his hands folded in front of his face, stared straight at his teacher and after a short pause he spoke.

"My name, is Sasuke Uchiha. I HATE a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have, is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy, a certain someone." Sasuke was glaring past his hands he had folded in front of his face. All at once Sakura was reminded of why she didn't like him all that much. He reminded her of herself before realizing other people cared about her and she cared about them – bent and twisted on revenge rather then realizing what was in front of you.

She shook her head and saw his glare turn to her but he said nothing.

_Gee I hope he doesn't mean me..._Naruto's pupils were wide as he stared at Sasuke like a crazy person.

"Good. You're each unique and you have your own ideas. You'll have your first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission?" Naruto asked.

"It will be a survival exercise."

Sakura quirked a brow as she leaned back on her elbows. "I thought we were suppose to go on an actual mission, we already did practice at the academy." Sakura pointed out.

"This is not like your previous training." He chuckled darkly. "Of the 27 graduates who just came here only 9 will be accepted as genin, the other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words this is a make it or break it pass or fail test. In this case the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%." Naruto's mouth was wide, Sasuke's expression was never changing and Sakura just stared confidently.

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was the graduation test for anyway!" Naruto pouted very loudly.

"That was just to select candidates that _might_ become genin." He tilted his head to each side a few times looking up in the air with his one eye as if he was measuring the odds. "Or not. That's how it works. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training sight at 5:00am. Bring your ninja gear." He stood up and turned his back to them.

Naruto looked freaked out of his mind, Sasuke was clutching his hands tightly and Sakura was just smiling slightly, a determined look in her eyes, even though she was quiet nervous inside.

"That's it. You're dismissed, and you better skip breakfast tomorrow or else, you'll puke."

Then he left. Sakura smiled to herself, steeling her determination. "Challenge accepted." She turned to leave, she had to train more, because she was planning on trying a new jutsu out today and had already lost time due to her teacher being late. When she arrived at her training spot she saw Sasuke already there. _Darn it. _She thought. _Really wishing I hadn't let him follow me to this place years ago.. _

"What do you want?" She asked walking to stand in front of him hands on hips, "I want to work on a new jutsu and would like to do it alone." There was a long silence before she huffed. "Well you don't want anything then you can go now." She pushed past him, but he grabbed her arm.

"I have a question." She glanced at him suspiciously.

"Are you trying to reenact the scene from three years ago or something? Just get on with it."

"Why did your goal change?"

"Again with the stupid questions I see." Her long hair covered her face from his view and she smiled softly at the ground before looking up at him again with soft eyes that nearly made him step back. She had no idea how different it was then last time. "I had to choose between aiming for revenge or protecting the people I cared about who were still alive. And I couldn't do both without failing to do the other. I choose to keep the ones living alive and to not be the cause of their pain."

"what do you mean?"

"I mean in my path to get revenge I was hurting the people who cared about me. This went on for years before I opened my eyes to what was in front of me and bit by bit I made my new family…. I want… to make sure nothing happens to them like what happened to my parents." She glanced at the bloomed Sakura tree. "But to do that, I have to fight to be strong for them…" then she glanced back at him again.

"Happy? you can go now." She freed her arm easily and waited for him to go while she performed a quick jutsu, a release for a genjutsu similar to the one Gaara showed her years ago, then reached into the tree and pulled out a book she had placed inside. Sasuke stared in interest.

"One more question." She turned to look at him, bored.

"You have my attention for another minute before I kick you out of here myself." Sakura warned.

"Why don't you like me?" It was killing him, he had to ask.

"Easy. Because you remind me of how I was years ago except," she clenched her first a bit annoyed, "you act cocky and arrogant all the time too, don't get me wrong I know how strong you are and how hard you work but seriously stop treating other people like their so much worse then you when you have a terrible 'reality.'" She turned a stare to him, a stare that was stern but gentle, harsh but honest all at once. "Reviving your clan, I get that but living your life to kill someone where will that really get you? Its not gonna bring them back." She said the last sentence really softly but didn't sugar coat the truth.

He scoffed. "Shows what you know. I should of known you weren't really all that smart." Then he turned to leave. "You just gave up because you don't know who killed them." She stiffed at that. It might be true that if she knew the person it could have been different, but she wouldn't dwell on it. She called after him as he reached the beginnings of the trail that led back inside the village.

"I know how you feel Sasuke, but don't let it consume you." He stopped walking for a second then started up again and then left.

"_Sakura?" Ino asked hesitantly to the girl curled up in the corner, a blank stare glancing at the floor, completely unresponsive. She'd been like that for days ever since she finally came home. She wouldn't eat, only slept when she passed out and even then it wasn't for long because she'd wake up screaming. In fact Ino hadn't seen her leave from that spot. So this was it. She clenched her fist and eyes brimming with tears stared down angrily at Sakura, "FINE! Be like that! I give up FOREHEAD!" And she ran out of the room._

_Sakura heard the door slam and curled into herself a little more. "I knew you would." Her voice was hoarse from lack of use and no water. "You don't care enough to even ask how I feel…" _

_Sakura walked through the streets, people stopping their conversations glancing at her and whispering. She could hear their words though._

"_That's the one, the girl whose parents were killed in the Suna massacre." _**(AN: Sakura's parents were killed a month or so before the Uchiha massacre cause in the flashback she's six again. She and Sasuke talked when they were 9)**

"_Should we say something?"_

"_No just leave her, I'm sure she wants to be alone." _

_How would you know? Sakura thought, you never care enough to ask. They didn't even see her as a person.. they saw a girl that was part of a horrible event. _

_Some people tried talking to her, but their expressions and attitudes were all so gentle, as if she was made of glass and speaking to loudly would cause her to shatter. Idiots. _

_So after a few attempts, she stopped going to town in the day, only on the off nights she actually slept at the Yamanaka's. _

_There was no point any more. Nothing mattered but finding the one who took away the only two people that cared. _

They all arrived at the training grounds at 5:00 all of them yawning except Sasuke. The sun had yet to rise but as time went on it was soon high in the sky and their teacher was still nowhere to be seen. Sakura was extremely glad she had chosen to eat breakfast that morning, she even packed solider pills in case she ran low on energy later. She glanced at her two teammates, Naruto was sleeping and Sasuke was just standing there. She felt like he was mad at her…. Not that she blamed him she did kind of call his 'reality' stupid…Great way to start off a team.

Sakura pulled her soldier pills out of her backpack, she made them herself, a special kind she had read about in a book. They would give you energy for 8 hours and make your stomach feel full for about 2. It was a fairly complicated recipe but after a few attempts she had it down pat and it really helped to keep her awake at night. She nudged Naruto awake.

"Here." She handed him one and he was too tired to even question it as he slipped it into his mouth. Then she stood up and tapped Sasuke on the shoulder. He glared at her. _Alright yeah he's mad. _She handed the pill to him. "Here, It'll give you energy and you won't feel as hungry." After a pause and him doing nothing she huffed and put one hand on her hip. "Look I'm sorry okay. I shouldn't have been so blunt about my thoughts like that! Now you can take this and have energy or not. You can accept my apology and work as a team with us or not. Either way it's only going to impact you."

Sasuke smirked a bit at her blunt honesty. It was actually quite funny how an apology sounded much more like an insult when it came from her. He silently took the pill. Its not that he was mad, its that he knew in a way that she was right, and his determination on his goal had wavered. That was what had angered him. He still wanted to kill his brother and restore his clan, and now he also wanted to try and understand and overpower the enigma that was Sakura Haruno. If he could get her on his side then the strength she got from her desire to protect him would make him unstoppable. Shouldn't be too hard. **[(1) read about in AN at bottom of page]**

"Morning everyone! Ready for you're first day!" Kakashi said, Naruto and Sakura turned around immediately to find Kakashi appear out of nowhere.

"YOU'RE LATE!" they shouted.

"Well I black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way." He said, his eye crinkling in the indication of a smile. Sakura observed his perspective and was glad to see he wouldn't have been able to notice her giving Sasuke or Naruto the pills. _He expects us to not have eaten and not have energy so this should catch him off guard. _

"Well." He cleared his throat. "Lets get started." He put a clock on a stump near the training ground. "Its set for noon, your assignment is very simple," He held two silver bells in his hand that chimed as he clattered them against each other, "you just have to take these bells from me. If you can't get them by noon you don't get to eat lunch. You'll be tied to those posts," He gestured towards the area off to the side of them, "while you watch me eat my lunch in front of you." He clanged the bells against each other again.

_So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast. _Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke all thought. All the teammates felt intensely grateful for the solider pills right now.

"Kakashi, there's three of us and only two bells." Sakura pointed out. His eye crinkled again.

"Well that way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy. Then again, all three of you could flunk out too." He stated before getting serious once more. "You can use any weapons. If you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take the bells."

"Those weapons are dangerous." Sakura stated the obvious.

"hahahha! Especially sense you couldn't even dodge the eraser." Naruto laughed.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them. Lowest scores. Losers." Kakashi shot back. Sakura had a feeling it was to set him off on purpose…

"When I say start you can begin." It worked well considering Naruto immediately took out a kunai and charged right for him. It was obviously easy to stop, but what wasn't so expected was the Kakashi appeared behind him and put him in a lock, pointing his own kunai at his head. _Alright, he's proven himself. _

"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Sakura and Sasuke backed up from him.

_He's so fast… I didn't even see it. _Sakura thought.

"But you came at me with the full intention of destroying me. So." He chuckled lightly, "I'm actually starting to like you guys." He released Naruto from his hold and stood opposite of the three of them again. "Get ready. And Start!" All three students took off in different directions.

"Well they've hidden well." Kakashi said to himself after a short while. That was until he turned to see Naruto arms crossed, grinning widely down at him.

"You and me! Right now! Fair and Square!"

"You know compared to the others your- a little bit weird." Kakashi pointed out.

"Oh yeah the only thing weird here is your haircut!" Then Naruto charged… cause that worked so well the first time. He stopped immediately after he saw his sensei's hand reach into his pocket.

"Shinobi battle techniques part one: Taijustu, the physical part." Kakashi stated simply slowly bringing his hand out.

_Taijutsu is hand to hand combat! So why is he reaching for a weapon? _Naruto thught.

Kakashi sped up and – pulled out a book.

"Go on, make your move." He said, unperturbed.

Naruto's face was dumbstruck. "But I mean, Why are you reading that book!?"

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course." He said matter of factly. "Don't let it bother you, with your weak attacks it shouldn't matter if I'm reading or whatever." He easily angered Naruto again causing him to charge with proclamations of "I'm going to crush you."

All his attacks were easily blocked, dodged or evaded. In the last dodge Kakashi appeared behind Naruto.

"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time."

His hands were folded together with his ring and middle fingers outstretched pressed against each other.

_A hand sign to control his Chakra! Is that the sign of the tiger? That's Dangerous. He could destroy Naruto with that! _Sakura thought from her position crouched under a thick range of overgrown bushes.

"Naruto get out of there Quick! He's going to destroy you!" Sakura called.

"To late." Kakashi said before calling out. "Leaf village Secret finger Jutsu!" and sent Naruto flying, clutching his rear for… obvious reasons. "A thousand years of death!" Sakura blushed furiously.

"That wasn't a hand sign at all he just poked him." She muttered.

"Those two are just, total idiots." Sasuke scoffed, irate from his hiding spot in a near by tree.

Meanwhile Naruto landed himself in the water and Kakashi began to read his book again.

This all went on for a very long while with attacks from the water, Naruto shadow clone attacks which doubled as an attack from behind which ended with Naruto punching himself and then of course Naruto getting caught in a trap. Alright all the attempts were by Naruto thus far. It left lots of room for Kakashi to give advice like,

"Think before you use a jutsu or your opponent could use it against you." As well as. "If the bait is obvious, don't take it."

"I. Get. It" Naruto muttered swinging from the tree, feet still caught in a trap. Kakshi was standing before him, book still in hand but he wasn't reading it, just looking at Naruto with a critical one eye gaze.

"I tell you this because you DON'T get it. You THINK you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"

Hidden in the trees, Sasuke's eyes widened. _This is my chance. He's finally let his guard down! _He promptly tossed shuriken and kunai that flung and hit Kakashi in the side with such force he moved a few yards. Sakura gasped.

"Are you out of your mind Sasuke!" Naruto Exclaimed. The three waited with baited breath…

Only to have Kakashi's body poof into a log.

_Another substitution jutsu! And now he knows where I'm hiding! Gotta move fast! He did that on purpose and I fell for it! _Sasuke leapt from his spot and, noisily, made his way through the trees.

Sakura decided its about time she moved spots too took off into the forest, she saw Kakashi reading a book and, wondering if it was another trap, spread out her Chakra. She sensed it, not far behind her was Kakashi, she threw a shuriken at the clone so it wouldn't trip her up if she saw it again and kept running. After a while she felt he wasn't going to let up and decided to use a trick she figured out a few days ago. Making a few hand signs, she substituted herself with a rock below her and then performed her most complex genjutsu which would have him running in circles fore at least three minutes and that was only because of his Jonin rank. With a few more quick hand signs she hid within the ground using earth style: headhunter jutsu. As soon as she felt him pass over and take the bait she reappeared and ran in the opposite direction.

Kakashi didn't take long to realize he was in a genjutsu. _Very clever, Shinobi battle skill number two: The illusion jutsu. By the strength of this one it would normally be performed at a Chunin rank. She probably expected it to last a little longer then this but she's lucky to have gotten a minute on me at all. _He used the release Jutsu only to find his second student wasn't there anymore.

While he had been chasing Sakura, Sasuke had seen Sakura run by and had concealed his Chakra. He probably would have been found had she not activated that genjutsu. Once again she impressed him with her ability. He scoffed, _she wasn't all THAT impressive._

He heard a rustle next to him and prepared a kunai only to have Sakura appear. "I suggest you get out of here, that might be my strongest Genjutsu but by his rank and what we've seen so far its not going to hold him long." He nodded, knowing it wasn't the time to argue or stall and they ran off before deciding to split up again.

Sasuke was the next to come in contact with Kakashi. After landing in a separate clearing he thought about what to do. He wasn't surprised Naruto was so easily caught or that Sakura was able to slightly outsmart Kakashi but he was disappointed she chose to run. That wasn't something he would have done.

"But I'm not like Sakura or Naruto." He said aloud.

"Say that after you get one of these bells." Kakashi spoke from behind him. _This feels like it happens to me far more often then it should. _

The two engaged in battle. Sasuke using his weapons again and Kakashi dodging them before Sasuke set off a cleverly set trap that shot more shuriken and kunai at him. When Kakashi dodged, Sasuke appeared behind him, catching Kakashi off guard. Sasuke sent a heel kick to his face. Kakashi blocked it with one hand and grabbed his foot with the other. Sasuke then punched with his right hand which Kakashi caught with the hand he was previously blocking with. Sasuke used his free leg to aim for his head. Kakashi took the hand he was grabbing Sasuke's hand with and used it to block the second kick. With his hands occupied and Sasuke upside down, he was open to take a bell, his fingers brushed against it, and Kakashi jumped away.

Right into two delicate female hands that reached up and pulled both his feet into the ground making him immobile. Sakura leaped out of the ground behind him and reached for a bell only to find a log before her. _Starting to hate substitutions! _She thought bitterly. There wasn't much she could have done to change that, if she buried him up to his head then she wouldn't have been able to reach for the bell but with his arms free he was easily able to perform a quick substitution. And besides that, Sakura had only stated practicing the jutsu yesterday and could only spend up to a minute underground before she had to get out, so it really wasn't an easy task.

Sasuke was beyond shocked to see Sakura come from the ground like that. She shouldn't be this good but she was.

_Two at once, and their fierce. I won't be able to read make out paradise now. _Kakashi thought from the other end of the clearing_._ He stared down the two pre teens across from him. Looking at the area from above you would see the three in a triangle formation.

Then there was Naruto, still dangling by a tree in the original clearing, planning to get the box lunches he spotted on the stump with the clock.

Sasuke and Sakura exchanged glances before Sakura took the hint and nodded, jumping away into the trees. Sasuke obviously wanted to try this alone.

He stated with fire style: fire ball jutsu! Shocking Kakashi at the ability, but the attack was easily evaded and when the attack ended Sasuke couldn't see Kakashi anywhere. Kakashi then reached out a hand from the ground and grabbed Sasuke's foot just as Sakura had done to Kakashi earlier, but he buried Sasuke all the way.

Crouching before him he began a lecture. "You're right you are different from the others. But different isn't always better." He stood up and began reading his book while walking away. "They say the nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered down."

So while Kakashi walked away from Sasuke, Sakura, who was still hidden in the trees, jumped down to help Sasuke get released.

"He probably didn't forget about you you know." Sasuke pointed out. She nodded.

"I'm sure he has something planned. But you're my teammate, my priority is to help you. Plus, I'd hope if this was reverse you'd do the same for me, I mean we kinda in a way are friends aren't we?" She said, performing and earth style jutsu to push Sasuke's body above ground again. He dusted himself off before saying.

"Shouldn't you have helped Naruto then?" Sakura sweat dropped before having a small personal spaz attack.

"CRAP! I completely forgot! How could I forget about Naruto we've been friends for a while now haven't we! Darn it! Shoot! We have to go!" with that she took off into the trees. _Yup. _Sasuke thought. _She certainly is an enigma. _

Meanwhile Naruto had freed himself from the rope and was preparing to chow down on the lunch boxes, right when Kakashi appeared behind him.

"And just what are you up to?" Kakashi asked.

"I was just… joking Sensei."

"Nice try."

And this is how it all ended up. Naruto tied to a pole and Sakura and Sasuke sitting on the ground, all of them without bells and by now even though they still had energy from the soldier pills, their stomachs weren't full and thus, growling for lunch.

"Uh oh, stomachs growling huh? That's to bad. Oh and by the way, about this exercise, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy." He said like it was a matter of fact.

Sakura sighed, she had been getting worried because they hadn't had bells. Perhaps their jutsu impressed him.

"Really! So that means all of us are?" Naruto began to ask.

"Yes." Kakashi said cheerfully. "All of you are being dropped from the program. Permanently." His tone quickly changed to a harsh and spiteful one. Naruto stopped cheering, Sakura's breath caught in her throat and Sasuke glared at their 'sensei'.

"That means we can never become ninja! You said if we couldn't take the bells then we'd be sent back to the academy!" Naruto cried out flailing his legs. "You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that!"

"Because you don't think like ninja. You think like little kids, Brats. " Kakashi's words angered Sasuke, and losing his cool he dashed forward only to be pinned under Kakashi's feet.

"You think its all about you. You don't know what it is to be a ninja. You think it's a game? Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that?"

"Of course!" Sakura shouted catching their attention. "We're put on squads to help each other out that means when one of us is in danger the others can defend and help, we're suppose to work together!"

"Then why didn't you do that?" He questioned. "When Naruto was attacking me, both of you just sat back and watched, and when he was caught no one thought to come and help him. The only time there was ever teamwork was when you and Sasuke ganged up on me, and even then you weren't actually trying to work together. Everyone has been flying solo and that's not an option in this line of work." He sneered at them. "Perhaps if all three of you had come at me you might have been able to take the bells, but its to late now. Its over."

"But you only put two bells for three people! Even if we got them there would be arguments over who didn't get one! With the group conflict we would break up." Sakura pointed out.

"Exactly, I purposefully pitted you against each other. I wanted to see if you could over come that and put the squad ahead of yourselves. A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork, but you guys, it never even crossed your mind." He looked in the direction of his students. "Sakura, as I stated you just left Naruto dangling and even though you and Sasuke were able to silently communicate you didn't even try to work together."

"Naruto, you do everything on your own, everything."

"And you Sasuke, thought the others were so far beneath you or didn't think similar enough to you that they were worthless. Arrogance. Ninja missions are carried out in squads, everyone has their individual skills but teamwork is essential. Every shinobi knows that. Individuals putting themselves above the squad leads to failure and death." He reached into his pouch again. "For example" Whipping out a kunai he held it to Sasuke's throat. "Kill Naruto now or Sasuke dies."

Naruto and Sakura Gasped. _No… the whole reason… the whole reason I'm doing this is to protect everyone. _She glanced between her two teammates. _This isn't how it should go! _

"That's what happens on a mission." Kakashi said calmly removing the kunai from Sasuke's throat and twirling around his finger. "Someone takes a hostage and you end up with and impossible choice, then someone ends up dead." He put the kunai back. "In every mission, your life is on the line." He walked over to a stone in the center of the clearing. "Did you look at this? The names of hero ninja are engraved on this stone. A special kind of hero. They were all KIA. Some of my closest friends are on here." There was a long silence before Kakashi turned around.

"Alright, I'm going to give you one more chance but this time I'm going to make it much harder. You have 3 hours to get a bell, eat lunch now to get strength, but Naruto doesn't get any because he tried to break the rules. Anyone who tries to feed him immediately fails." He began to walk away. "I make the rules, you follow them, you got it?"

A little while later they sat enjoying lunch while in between them was a starving Naruto telling them it was no problem while his stomach said otherwise. After a while Sasuke finally spoke up.

"Here" Sasuke handed his lunch to Naruto.

"Are you sure you want to do that? He's probably watching." Sakura pointed out.

"He's not here, and we need to get these bells as a team, that's not going to work if Naruto is starving he'll be weak and ineffective. That jeopardizes the team."

"I admit you have a point." Sakura said. She held up her lunch too. "Its only fair." She smiled. " I suppose you can't move your hands so I guess I have to feed you, open up and don't make noise or I'll suffocate you with this food." She said still smiling. She got some rice on her chopsticks and began to feed half of her food to Naruto. As soon as she did Kakashi came out of no where in a fit of dirt and wind.

"YOU!" He called.

"Crap I knew I shouldn't have done that…" Sakura muttered. They all stood their ground.

"You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment." He executed a few hand signs and clouds rolled in out of nowhere. "Any last words." Lighting and thunder echoed in the background.

"But you said…" Naruto said shivering.

"Yes?"

"You said there were three of us and that's why Sakura and…"

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together." Sasuke spoke.

"Yeah that's right, the three of us are one." Sakura pitched in. "One unit that works together."

"The three of you are one? That's your excuse?" he came closer looking more menacing as he did so, but the three pre teens still held their ground. Kakashi smiled. "heh. You pass."

"huh?" Naruto asked.

"You passed. You're the first squad that succeeded, all the others did exactly as I said, they couldn't think for themselves." The dark clouds cleared and the sun shown again. "A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, this is true, but, those who abandon their friends are worse then scum."

Sakura smiled happily relieved they passed. Sasuke smirked accepting Kakashi's words and Naruto's eyes teared up.

"Okay, I admit it, he's kind of cool." He sniffled.

"The exercise is over. Everyone passes! Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow!" He sent them all a thumbs up and turned around. "Lets go home!" Sakura skipped away happily and Sasuke followed behind confidently while Naruto kicked out from his post that he was sill tied to.

"HEY YOU GUYS FORGOT TO UNTIE ME!"

_Sakura was helping out Ino and her parents in the flower shop._

"_That's not how you do it forehead!" Ino slapped Sakura's hand lightly and smirked at the girl, looking pleased to know more about something then Sakura for a change. _

_Sakura stuck her tongue out at the girl as Ino began instructing her how to do it properly. For some reason or another the girls began a short childish argument before Mrs. Yamanaka came up to the girls. _

"_Alright you two that's enough." She said with a smile on her face, but the twitch of her brow spoke her irritation. "Sakura, you're parents should be back any minute, why don't you go and wait for them?" her irritation left as she smiled warmly at the girl. _

"_I'll go too!" Ino shouted grabbing Sakura's arm and dragging her out of the flower shop. The two giggled and had slight conversation on the way. "So you excited to see them again? You're lucky it was a short trip! Even if it takes a day and a half to get to Suna, they only had one meeting to go to this time!" _

"_Of course I am their my parents, Ino!" Sakura said. She had been happy it was only a short trip, especially since they said she couldn't come this time. They said it was due to her having to start at the academy but she figured it had something to do with Gaara. Although she was glad she didn't have to miss the first three days of the Academy, she was learning a lot already and having so much fun!_

_It didn't take long to reach the gate, and so they just talked while they waited. Soon they saw a figure in the distance, thinking it wasn't anyone important and it obviously wasn't her parents the girls ignored the man._

_That was until he came up to the guard and stated his business._

"_I'm a diplomat from Suna, I come.. bearing some news.." This got the girls attention and they the glanced at the man over their shoulders. _

"_That's weird." Ino muttered. "I didn't know Konoha was expecting Suna diplomats…" Sakura elbowed her, but a sinking feeling came to her stomach. _

"_Of course you wouldn't know Ino pig we're not even Genin none the less important enough to know that." Still the two watched him. _

_After a short exchange with the guard, he was aloud to pass and began heading to the Hokage tower. Ino was going to follow him but Sakura grabbed her shirt. "Hey, its none of our business, lets just wait for my parents okay?" Ino looked into her friends eyes, nodded and they sat in silence waiting. _

_Hours passed and they didn't move from that spot until Ino finally decided to go home. Sakura said they probably had to stay in a longer meeting then expected and they'd be back soon so she stayed and waited in the cold of the night, curled up in a ball leaning against the gate, staring into the never ending forest ahead of her. _

_She didn't know how much time went by before Ino came running back, calling Sakura back home saying there was the sand Shinobi from before in their home and that it had something to do with her parents. Sakura snapped up at that, and began dashing to the Yamanaka's house. She made it there with Ino hot on her tail and her best blonde friend silently pointed to the closed door._

_And thus Sakura ended up sleeping beside a tree two nights in a row. The second time she woke up she just sat there all day doing nothing. It was to painful to think about, to painful to feel. She just didn't want to. So she tried to block it out, tried to block out all of her emotions. The sun was warm on her skin but she felt none of it. She wondered who killed them, what they looked like. Did they think it was fun to do that? Did they even know what they did to her now? She wanted to find them and she wanted to destroy them. She wondered how her beloved parents died and it frightened her, another emotion she buried. _

_For a while she did nothing but wonder these things, Ino gave up on her, Ino's parents and everyone else that Sakura knew didn't even try. They just didn't care. _

_Over time Sakura learned no matter how much she tried she could never bury her emotions completely. When she fell asleep they all came back in her dreams, the dominant one being fear. So she decided to stop sleeping as much as she possibly could and when she did sleep it was outside in that sakura tree. She put all of her time and effort into working, she wanted to find a way to track down her parents murderer and she wanted to be ready to end them. So she started working day and night hardly ever returned to her so called 'new home' and she never went to the Academy except to take the required tests. They weren't teaching her anything that would help her anyway._

_A month later there was a massacre in the leaf village. Apparently one of the Uchiha went rouge and killed his entire clan except for one little boy. _

_She remembered that three years later, that same little boy, Sasuke, followed her 'home' and asking her all those 'stupid' questions. The only reason she even bothered to let him watch was because she knew he had his whole family killed too. She also knew that unlike her, he had to see it happen and see their bodies. So she thought, if he was here to ask her about it, then he might understand her answer._

_In a way it seemed he did._

_That's how her life went on for years. She never really stopped feeling, but when she did feel she would just bottle it up inside and push it deep down within her. But no one can just do that. If you fill something with too much, the contents will find its way out. _

_Normally by shattering the container in an explosion._

**Alright so this was a really long chapter! Longest Chapter I've ever written and I still didn't' get all the details in. Most of it was based off of episodes 3-5 but I changed quite a bit of it mainly Sakura's lines.**

**(1) Sasuke has a definite interest in Sakura but he's kind of a hard character to write for because I detest him so much but right now I have to find a way to relate him to Sakura because part of the whole plot involves him wanting to basically use her abilities and get her, in a way – to submit to him. Yes he does like her but his strive for power is fare grater then that.**

**Sakura is a beast with all her awesome jutsu! :P **

**She is devoid of emotions after her parents death because she thinks no one will ever understand her the same way and she doesn't think that they even are trying, what she doesn't realize is that she is the one not putting in any effort. I kind of had the flashbacks tossed all over the place so I apologize for that. **

**Next time On an all new what Fate Brings Forward! (Que Naruto music)**

_A mission to the land of the waves? _

_The last piece of Sakura's past?_

_The Chunin exams!_

**All will be revealed in the next chapter:** Sakura's true strength, & a shocking reunion.


	7. Sakuras true strength,A shocking reunion

**Question for you: **_What is your favorite chapter thus far and why?_

* * *

**Chapter 7: Sakura's true strength! A shocking reunion! **

"Sasuke: I'm at point B"

Sakura could here the static through her headset as Sasuke spoke into his mic from his current location. She turned on her own mic and spoke into it next.

"Sakura: I'm at point C" she turned it off promptly and waited for Naruto's own response. After a short pause the static came in again and she could here his for once quiet voice come through.

"Naruto: I'm at point A Believe it!"

"You're slow Naruto." Kakashi commented, his scolding voice filling Sakura's ears through her head set. "Alright, Squad seven- hm?" He took a pause and Sakura began listening more intently. "THE TARGET HAS MOVED! FOLLOW IT!" Kakashi's voice commanded a moment later.

Without pause the three began chasing after the silhouette that was dashing away. They came to a stop in the forest peeking through trees.

"Over there." Naruto was close enough to her now to be able to hear him without the use of the headset making a staticy echo of what she just heard. Sticking together rather then slitting up, the three silently – well mostly silently – dashed a little closer, keeping their cover.

"Whats your distance from the target?" Kakashi's voice came through once more.

"5 meters, I'm ready!" Naruto whispered into his mic his reply, thus having his voice come through the headset in Sakura's ear as well as the faint sound of his voice traveling over from his nearby spot.

"So am I." Sasuke spoke, Sakura was to far away to hear him so the headset came in handy in his case.

"I'm ready too." She spoke this time, peaking out at the target through tree branches.

"Okayyyyy…." Sakura waited on alert for the command. "NOW!"

The team of three jumped into action on their unsuspecting target and Naruto was the first to grab the squirming thing.

Sakura smiled fondly at the little brown cat in Naruto's hands as it began scratching his face. She chuckled. "Oh Naruto you idiot."

Sasuke stood off to the side of the scene and Sakura heard Kakashi's question through her headset. "Can you confirm red ribbon right ear?" Sasuke glanced in Naruto's direction where the cat was still mercilessly scratching his face.

"Affirmative we've got a positive i.d" he responded.

"Right. Loft pet Tora Captured. Mission accomplished." Kakashi spoke.

"CAN'T WE GET A BETTER MISSION THEN THIS! I HATE CATS!" Naruto screeched causing a piecing high pitched noise through all the head sets. Sakura shut hers off to keep her ears protected. She clenched her fist and hit him upside the head.

"Be quiet you idiot!" Sighing Sakura picked up the cat from Naruto's hands, stopping its onslaught of claws and fangs, and rubbed soothingly it behind the ear, calming it instantly. Looking at the mess that had been made of Naruto's shirt and face she chuckled lightly. "You need to know how to handle a lady Naruto or they'll all tear you to shreds." She proceeded to rub behind the soft fur of the cat. It purred in her arms.

* * *

As soon as they saw the owner of the cat and the way it had run away. She mercilessly smothered the thing, Sakura couldn't blame her.

"Oh! My poor little Tora! Mommy was so worried about her naughty little fuzzikinz yeeeesss!" The chubby lady rubbed her plump cheek against the cats face.

Naruto laughed. "Ahahhahahaha! Stupid cat! That thing deserves to be squashed!"

Sakura discreetly hit Naruto upside the head again. She liked cats and didn't blame this one for acting the way it did. After all, if she was that cat she would mercilessly scratch anyone who tried to bring her back there too… especially Naruto.

They turned over to the third Hokage that was also in the room.

"Now then. For squad sevens next mission we have a few available." He began listing off jobs that included, babysitting three year olds, grocery shopping and digging potatoes.

"NO!" Naruto shouted holding his arms up in an X. "I want to go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting! Not this little kid stuff!" Sakura agreed in her head. These missions were terrible and its all they had been doing! What was the point of becoming a genin if they were just going to do the chores that neighbors normally asked you to help out with? It didn't involve ninja skill at all!

Taking a glance at Sasuke and the way his eyebrows pressed together the tiniest bit, she could tell he agreed with Naruto.

It was then that Iruka sensei, who was sitting beside the third, stood up angrily and began scolding Naruto about how he was just a new genin and was going to get the same missions all new ninja start out with to develop skills.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. He can't be serious, babysitting was going to improve ninja skill? She didn't have to voice her thoughts seeing as Naruto did it for her. This time it was Kakashi that hit him and he feel face first into the ground.

"Can it."

"It seems you do not understand the tasks you've been given." The third Hokage glanced almost threateningly from his Hokage hat. "Listen, many kinds of missions come in to our village every day from babysitting to assassinations." He gestured to the many scrolls and papers laid out on his desk. "These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed. Then ranked A, B, C, or D depending on their difficulty. We Ninja are also ranked."

Sakura knew that the Hokage was at the top, then Jounin then Chunin, then genin at the bottom. She knew all about this stuff. She had read several books on mission classifications and ninja ranks. They had even given some examples of these missions and the stories of ninja who went on them. She also knew there were S classed missions for only the most dangerous assassinations. It was only reasonable that the A missions went to Jounin, the B and C to Chunin and the D missions to Genin with rare occasion of a C mission. After all successful missions the village would receive a fee that supported the village and their work. It was the natural income of things.

Sakura pretty much had tuned out all that the Hokage was saying because she knew all of this and instead decided to listen to Naruto babble about what ramen he had eaten.

"SILENCE!" The third shouted at him.

"Oh. Sorry." Kakashi who had also been listening to Naruto's epic tale of food replied lazily. Sasuke also looked up from the spot he had been looking at the floor.

"Why do you always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something! But I'm not a little brat who used to pull pranks all the time! I'm a ninja now and I want a ninja mission." Sakura stared annoyed as Naruto whined and pouted sitting on the floor with his legs and arms crossed and turning his back to the Hokage. She really wanted to hit him again but now was not the time or place.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head already exhausted. "I'm gonna hear about this later."

The Hokage and Iruka chuckled. "Naruto wants us to know he's not a brat, but a former brat and wants a real mission?" The third Questioned. "So be it." The three genin gasped lightly and hopefully as they gazed at the old man before them. "Since you are so determined I'm going to give you a C ranked mission. You'll be body guards on a journey."

Naruto turned around happily and began sending a thousand questions at the Hokage. "Don't be so impatient, we'll send him in now." He turned to someone by the door. "Send in our visitor." He ordered and the four that made up team seven turned as the door opened.

"What the? A bunch of snot nosed kids?" The man that appeared before them took a gulp of his beer bottle and a bit of hit dribbled down his chin. "And you - the little one with the idiotic look on his face - you really expect me to believe you're a ninja?" The man asked, slightly drunk as he leaned against the doorframe.

"HAHAHHA Whose the little one with the idiotic look?" Naruto asked glancing to his sides as Sakura and Sasuke moved slightly closer making it quiet obvious they were both taller then him. This caused Naruto to try and charge for the man threating him all the way as Kakashi easily held him back.

"You can't demolish the client Naruto, it doesn't work that way." He said simply. The man took another gulp of his beer bottle, and smiled past his grey beard. He looked fairly old, had grey framed glasses on his face and a white rope around his forehead. His skin was tan his stomach round and he had a large bag on his back.

"My name is Tazuna, I'm an expert bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm going to build a bridge there that will change the world. You must safely get me home and keep me safe until the building is done even if it means giving up your life."

And that's how it started. Naruto had been thrilled to go on their first real mission and even though she didn't show it, Sakura was overjoyed as well. She was pretty sure Sasuke felt the same but who could really know. However Naruto was extra excited that it was his first time to leave the village. A lot of fighting went on between Naruto and Tazuna. Tazuna sent insult after insult at the boy and multiple times Kakashi had to remind him not to attack the client but to protect him.

A little while into the journey Naruto had a question of his own.

"Kakashi Sensei, doesn't the land of waves have ninja of their own?" He shook his head.

"No. There are no ninja in the land of waves. But in other countries there are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures, where ninja reside." He explained. "Ninja villages aren't controlled by any government, they are independent and have equal status. They're used as a military force and a way of keeping peace with other villages. There are also diplomatic ninja that travel to the different hidden villages to make negotiations and such." Sakura tried to hide the small flinch and ignore the glance Sasuke gave her. Kakashi didn't know how her parents died and who they had been. "The land of waves on the other hand, is a small island with natural protection from the sea. So theirs no need for ninja villages. The lands that due possess ninja villages are –"

"Fire water lightning wind and earth." Sakura cut in. Kakashi nodded then continued.

"They each occupy vast amounts of land and are known as the 5 great shinobi nations. The hidden village of the land of fire is –"

"The village hidden in the leaves aka Konohagakure, the Land of water has the village hidden in the mist aka Kirigakure, lightning has cloud aka Kumogakure, wind has the village hidden in the sand aka Sunagakure, and earth has the village hidden in the stones aka Iwagakure." Sakura recited. She did know that much after all. "The leaders are permitted the name Kage meaning shadow. There is the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Suchikage. These are the shadows that reign over thousands of ninja." She finished.

"Very good Sakura, it seems you know quiet a bit about the shinobi world." He complimented.

"I just read books its nothing special. But this should mean we won't have to fight any ninja right?" She asked. As much as she was confident in her skill she was extremely nervous to be put into battle what if someone got hurt…

"Don't worry, there are no ninja battles in a C ranked mission so you can relax." He said putting his hand on her head. Thus they continued but Sakura hesitated… was that? She turned to look behind them, she felt like they were being watched but… _no.. its just my imagination._

"Common Sakura what's the hold up!" Naruto called.

"Sorry!" She sprinted to catch up the short distance and didn't look back.

It wasn't long after that when two ninja cloaked in black with their faces covered by some kind of gas mask appeared from the ground and wrapped up Kakashi in what looked like the chains used in chainsaws. They then tugged and his body fell to the ground in meaty chunks. Sakura's eyes opened wide to where you could barely see the pupil, her hands shook and her heart pounded loudly. Her body went numb and she could no longer see the scene that was in front of her. No.. she saw her parents.

_Her mom embraced her tightly. Her smiling face then becoming visible. "Its okay Sakura we'll be back in three days just wait a while okay honey." _

"_We love you cherry blossom." Her dad's image popped into her head. _

_Then their backs as they walked away._

"_See you soon!" _

"Sakura!" She heard Sasuke's voice and only then snapped back to reality. She saw that Sasuke had stuck the chain to a tree and that the men let it go and one was charging right towards the bridge master.

"Get behind me!" She called to him and then pulled out a few kunai and shuriken. As she was about to toss them she froze.

_Toss them. Come on. TOSS them! _Gripping her weapons tighter she stared as the man came increasingly faster towards them. Her mind was hit with an onslaught of memories.

_She hid behind Gaara as his sand defended them from the four men. _

_Warm sand surrounded her stopping her from falling that day they played tag._

"_I promise I'll become strong so I can fight beside you one day!" _

"_Ino, Hinata Go! Get out of here!"_

That's right. Sakura blinked snapping back to realty and taking a stronger stance. _I'm fighting to do this. _Her plan was simple,she would toss her weapons with strings attached to them into different trees at different heights then simply pull and have him captured, but right as she was about to toss them Sasuke jumped in front of her. _I can't do anything with you standing in front of me! _Looking around frantically she formulated another plan. She would use the head hunter jutsu and go into the ground leaving a clone in her place. Then she could bury their attacker. _Okay GO! _The metal clawed hand reached forward closer and closer and just as Sakura was about to get to work it was abruptly yanked back by a certain silver haired ninja.

There in the middle of the field appeared Kakashi Sensei holding both the attacking nins by their necks in the crook of his elbows. "Hi."

_Thank goodness! Kakashi Sensei is alive! _Sakura smiled from her spot behind Sasuke.

"Show off…" She barely heard him mutter. If she didn't know his voice so well she probably would have mistaken it for the wind, but that was defiantly Sasuke talking.

Sakura looked over to where Kakashi's body had supposedly been and saw he had used a substitution. _Well I suppose just this once, I'm going to love substitution jutsu. _

"Oh, sorry I didn't help you guys out earlier, I just didn't expect you to freeze up, Naruto." Sakura was ashamed she hadn't even known Naruto had been attacked. It must have happened when she was frozen in her own shock. _Pay more attention Sakura you have to protect him too! _

Kakashi turned and stalked forward towards Sasuke and sakura. "Good Job Sasuke, very smooth. And Sakura, I don't know what was going on in the beginning but it seemed you had something figured out right before I showed up. It'll be interesting to see what you do next time, just try not to freeze that could mean life or death." Sakura glared at the ground, it wouldn't happen next time, she remembered why she was doing all this after all.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke who was staring at the sky looking bored as usual. _Didn't he feel scared at all? He looked so calm… not a scratch on him. How does he do it? _

"Hey" His voice broke through her thoughts. "Not hurt are you?" He asked, a cocky smirk on his face eyes dancing with amusement.

"I could have taken them down if you hadn't gotten in the way of my shot." She huffed stalking passed him. His smirk fell and his eyes narrowed slightly and he roll his eyes.

"Sure, sure." Sakura didn't see the exchange but she heard his voice as he turned to Naruto. "What about you? Scardey cat."

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted before Kakashi stopped him.

"Naruto. Stand still. These ninja have poison in their claws we need to take it out of you quickly." Naruto stared at his hand, which had been cut during the attack from earlier. Sakura turned to look at it too. _I should have been paying attention. _She gripped her fist tightly. _I could have prevented that… _"Reopen the wound and remove it. Its in your blood so don't move around or you'll spread it. By the way Mr. Tazuna." He didn't even turn to look at the man who took at step back at the mention of his name.

"Yeah what?" He asked shakily.

"We need to talk."

They secured the ninja to a tree and made a semi circle around them as Kakashi began to explain more. He informed them that these were Chunin from the hidden mist that specialized in relentless attack. The ninja who were awake by now, questioned Kakashi on how he knew about their ambush.

"A puddle? On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?" He shot right back. "I could have taken you out quickly, but then I would have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was." Kakashi glanced at Tazuna from the corner of his eye. "And what they were after."

"What are you getting at?" Tazuna questioned defensively in his gruff voice.

"I wanted to know if they were after us. Ninja attacking ninja. Or if they were after you, a master bridge builder." He looked suspiciously at Tazuna. "When you put in your request, you asked fore standard protection against robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were ninja looking for you. _Hunting _you down. If you had asked for this it would have been a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge." Tazuna glanced down guiltily. "If we knew we'd be defending against enemy ninja we would have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Apparently you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"We're genin this is to advanced for our level of training." Sakura explained to the man gently. "We're not to far, we can just go back. We really need to get the poison out of Naruto's wound anyway. We can take him to a doctor there and then get you assigned a team that can guard you properly."

"Well, Naruto's hand could become a problem." Kakashi sighed. "I guess we should go back."

It was then that Naruto raised a kunai high into the air and jabbed at the wound in his hand.

Everyone stared frozen in shock.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out stepping closer just to have him step away slightly.

"Ugghhhh….gugghghhghghhg… Why am I always ugugugughh. I worked so hard to get here! Pushing my self so hard until it hurt. Anything to reach my dream." Blood started dripping onto the ground in large dark red drops. "I will _not _run away. And I will _not _lose. A real ninja never gives up and neither will I!"

"Naruto that was really cool an all how you stopped the poison but if you lose any more blood – you're going to die." Kakashi stated matter of factly. And at that Naruto started spazzing out and Kakashi suggested he stop the bleeding about now.

Sakura stared at her idiot friend. This had to be the first time Naruto actually said anything that was actually inspirational. And… it really connected with her, she had been working really hard all of these years and was going to do whatever she could to protect everyone. She wouldn't run away either.

After a short while, Kakashi got Naruto to stop spazzing out by wrapping his wound and they were off on their mission again – on high alert this time.

* * *

Sakura stared into the thick fog, barely being able to see a foot in front of her. The boat they were on trudged through as the driver of it paddled forward. "Our destinations just up ahead, the land of waves." The driver commented. Slowly the group could make out the beginnings of a large bridge. There were cranes and planks and support beams helping keep it up for now.

"WOAH ITS HUGE!" Naruto exclaimed.

The driver told Naruto to be quiet because they didn't want to be spotted. Otherwise they wouldn't be paddling or traveling through fog.

Kakashi glanced at their client. "Mr. Tazuna, before we reach the pier I want to ask you something." He stared into the man's hat, as that was all he could see when Tazuna was staring at the ground. " The men who are after you. I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."

Slowly but surely Tazuna glanced up at the group and began to explain. "I have no choice but to tell you. No. I WANT you to know the truth. Like you said, this goes beyond the scope of your mission. The man who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"Deadly shadow? Who is it?" Kakashi inquired.

"You know him, or at least I'm sure you've heard of him. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet Gatto."

"Gatto? Of Gatto transport?" Kakashi's one eye widened at this. "He's a business leader, everyone knows him."

Tazuna then explained that Gatto was a very powerful business Tycoon, but behind the surface, with the same ruthless methods he used to take over businesses and nations, he sold drugs and contraband. That he hired thugs and ninja. He also told them that one year ago he set his sight on the land of waves. He used his wealth to take control of the transport and shipping and anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared. In an island nation, a man that controls the sea controls everything. And lastly he explained that the one thing he feared was the bridge. Once it is built it would unit the island to the land and be free of him.

"So because you're in control of the bridge you're in his way." Sakura commented as it all sunk in.

"That means the guys that attacked us in the forest were working for Gatto." Sasuke added.

"I don't understand. If you knew he was dangerous, _knew _he'd send ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Kakashi asked.

"Because the land of waves is a small, poverty filled, nation, even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge can't pay for an A or B rank mission. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home." He dropped his serious tone and continued. "But don't feel guilty about that. Of course my grandson will be upset he'll cry 'Granddad I want my Granddad!'" he mimicked the voice of a young child. "Oh and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the hidden leaves denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow." He said matter of factly.

Sakura looked at the man, eye twitching. If that wasn't supposed to be a guilt card then Sakura didn't know what was. But this was part of her goal too. She wanted to protect _everyone _and to protect the people of the land of the waves then they needed to complete this mission. This wasn't just a mission to guard Tazuna this was a mission to save the land of the waves.

Kakashi scratched at his headband, a bead of sweat coming from the side of his face as he put on a guilty (face?) and spoke. "I guess we have no other choice. We have to keep guarding you."

"Oh I'm very grateful." He said plainly. Sakura could see the smirk on his face as he turned to the side and her eyebrow twitched again. She could practically hear him saying _I win. _

_Remember sakura, _she thought _no attacking the client. _

They all stared ahead and the fog lifted when they passed through a tunnel and before them were bright blue waters with mangrove trees arising here an there in it, on the sides to the water way there were wooden buildings that looked slightly worn down and a bit more like nice shacks and it was a bright sunny day.

They all got off at a port and the driver told them that he couldn't go any farther with them. He was thanked for taking a risk. Then Tazuna demanded they take him to his home and get him there in one piece.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi, his visible eye looked worn out and he seemed to be concerned about something. She guessed it was about the next bout of ninja they would send. She was worried too.

That's when Naruto tried jumping ahead and throwing kunai in random bushes exclaiming that someone was following them and was he here, no he was over there. So on and so forth. Kakashi scolded him on that's how you don't use a kunai and Sakura promptly hit his head. That's when Kakashi pushed through one of the bushes and found a snow rabbit, looking dazed and terrified with a kunai dug in the tree just centimeters over his head. Naruto then grabbed the bunny and nuzzled it saying how sorry he was to the little rabbit.

Sakura gazed at the rabbit. It _was _a snow rabbit, but its fur was white and that only occurred in winter when there was little light. This rabbit was clearly raised indoors, away from light. And that was only used for –

"Kakashi" Sakura commented glancing at her sensei noticing his alert stance. He looked at her and nodded. She could tell from his glance he knew she had come to the same conclusion as him.

That was a substitution jutsu and they were already here. A slight whistle was heard in the air and Kakashi's eye widened.

"LOOK OUT!" He called and they all turned as the whistling sound grew louder. A large silver blade was headed right towards them! They all fell to the ground instantly.

The sword dug deep into a tree and Sakura could see the feet of a person balancing on the handle of the sword. She glanced up more and saw a man with standard ninja shoes light blue pants with slim dark blue strips, cow printed leg and wrist warmers. without a shirt, a blue strap around his neck that made an X around his chest before attaching to his pants and a bandage mask over his nose. He was large, almost a giant, and his headband was from the mist.

_I've seen a picture of this guy before. _Sakura recalled trying to remember one of the books she'd read about criminals. _Who is he?_

"Well well if it isn't Zabuza Momochi. Rouge ninja from the village hidden the mist." Kakashi stepped ahead of the group glancing at the back of the assassin in front of them. Naruto charged forward but Kakashi held out a hand to stop him.

"You're in the way. Get back." He commented.

"But why?" He whined.

"He's not like other ninja, he's in a whole other league. For this opponent I'll need this." He put a hand over his headband that covered his left eye. The three students held their breaths. "This could be treacherous."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye." Zabuza's voice was deep and had a slight vibration when he spoke. _Sharingan!? But that's an Uchiha trait! _Sakura glanced shocked at her teacher. "Did I get that right?" out of the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke glance at their teacher too, glaring slightly. "It's really to bad, you'll have to hand over the old man."

Kakashi told them to get in mongi formation. "I taught you teamwork now its time to use it. Protect the old man and-" he ripped his headband up reveling an eye with a red iris and three black tear drop like shapes in it. A scratch went from his eye brow to his cheek. "Stay out of this fight!"

"Everyone keeps saying Sharingan Sharingan! Will someone please tell me what Sharingan is?" Naruto complained. Sakura almost sweat dropped, was this really time for explanations.

"Sharingan is a rare power residing in the eyes. The user of the visual jutsu, or doujutsu, can easily see any ninjutsu, genjutsu or taijutsu and reflect the attack back." Sasuke began to explain. Apparently Sasuke thought now was just _perfect_ for explaining. Sakura's brow twitched and she was surprised that Zabuza hadn't made a move to attack them yet. And yet the explanation continued. "This is a special rare form of doujutsu. But there's a lot more to the Sharingan then that. A LOT more."

"You got it right boy but you only scratched the surface. It can analyze an opponents technique and copy it to the smallest detail." Now Zabuza finished the explanation. Was… was this serious, they could have gone through like ten different jutsu by now but here they were all having a good old chat about the weapon their teacher would be using against the guy who was suppose to be trying to kill them but was instead apparently giving a lesson on the Sharingan. "As for you Jounin, being an assassination unit of the hidden mist, we had an order to destroy you on sight."

Sakura glanced around as a mist began to form all around them. It was hard to see anything at all.

"Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you the man that copied over a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the copy ninja." Kakashi and Zabuza held each others gazes, glaring the entire time. "Enough talking. I need to exterminate the old man, now."

The three students finally took a stance to protect the man.

"So I have to eliminate you first Kakashi? So be it." He easily grabbed the large hunk of metal from the tree and landed on the water in front of the group. The water swirled around him as he began to build huge amounts of chakra. He called out 'ninja art: hidden mist jutsu.' And with that he vanished into thin air.

Kakashi began to tell them that Zabuza was a master of the silent killing technique, a technique that happened with out sound or warning. He said the Sharingan couldn't fully neutralize it and that they needed to keep their guard up. Kakashi also said that that Zabuza would becoming after him first.

Meanwhile they mist was just getting thicker. Soon they couldn't see Kakashi anymore. Then he became visible as Kakashi's chakra blew around them in a visible blue color. Sasuke looked disturbed and Sakura couldn't blame him, it felt so suffocating right now and the air was chilling.

"Calm down Sasuke, I'll protect you with my life. All of you." Kakashi didn't even move a hair as he spoke, yet he was able to sense his students distress. Sakura glanced a bit more to see Sasuke held a kunai directed at himself. Her eyes widened slightly. "I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me."

That's when Zabuza appeared in between the group of three, Sakura could feel the presence of the gigantic sword behind her and moving her eyes only slightly she could see its sharp tip. Her eyes widened and she froze again from shock. There was a warmth emanating behind her and she knew this deadly killer was barely an inch away from them.

"Its over." He said, but Kakashi was as fast as lightning and charged right for Zabuza, stabbing him in the stomach, only to have water pour out before the form dissipated and gallons of water splashed onto he ground. Sakura could see Zabuza appear behind him and Naruto could as well, considering he warned Kakashi. But Zabuza already sliced him in half only to see – a water clone. Kakashi had copied Zabuza's attack. The attacker's eyes widened in shock. Kakashi then placed a kunai to his neck from behind.

Zabuza then appeared behind Kakashi again and their teacher pushed past the Zabuza in front of him, which turned out to be just another water clone. Zabuza kicked Kakashi away then charged after him before jumping into the water and standing above where Kakashi emerged from its depths. He quickly placed the sharingan wielder in a water prison, leaving one hand in it to keep it up. He then turned his attack on the bridge builder and the genin, making a simple hand sign to create water clones. His clone disappeared before reappearing by Naruto and kicking him in the side, his headband falling off from the impact.

Kakashi told them to run and get the bridge builder to safety, that the clone could only go so far and that all of Zabuza's power was being used to keep the prison up.

No one made a move. Running would do no good, they weren't skilled enough to not get caught by Zabuza without Kakashi around. HE]e would just track them down and eliminate them. On their own, they were finished. The only chance was to rescue Kakashi.

Sasuke dashed forward, throwing kunai after kunai only to get grabbed by the neck and tossed aside. Zabuza then appeared before Naruto, but before he could run away, something seemed to change in him. Instead of running, he dashed forward only to get kicked away but, it was revealed he successfully retrieved his headband. Zabuza looked officially pissed as soon as Naruto called him a freak with no eye brows. He stood his stance and proclaimed his dream once more.

"Well if you guys are done going off on your own. I have a plan." Sakura spoke behind them. They both glanced back at her and she smiled. "If you're willing, then we can do this." They smiled back and nodded. She made eye contact with Naruto and them darted her eyes to the clone, there was slight confusion so Sakura tossed as Shuriken to the clone and then Naruto seemed to register what she meant.

"What are you guys doing! I told you to take off!" Kakashi yelled. "This fight was over the minute I got caught!" He was angry, that much was obvious.

Sakura turned to look at her sensei. "Kakashi. You once said those who break the rules are scum but, those who abandon their friends are worse then scum. You're our comrade, our Sensei and just as much as it's your duty to protect us its ours to protect you to!" She called. "We're not turning back or running away." She pulled her kunai closer to her taking on a defensive and offensive stance all at once. "We will stand and fight."

"You're mission is to protect the bridge builder!" He shouted. "Stay on the mission!"

"Bridge builder?" Sakura questioned glancing slightly at him searching for permission.

"You're in this mess because of me in the first place. So- forget about me and do what you gotta do! Save your sensei!"

"Hear that?" Sasuke said.

The other two nodded. "You bet!" They said.

"Its not safe! He's dangerous." Kakashi stated. "In the village hidden in the mist, also known as blood mist village, before anyone can become a ninja, there was one final test."

"You know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza glanced at Kakashi.

"We had a graduation test too!" Naruto exclaimed. "Whats the big deal?"

"Did you have to massacre them to pass? Imagine, eating together training together and then comes the final exam, but the rules had changed. You couldn't stop until you destroyed your opponent. He was your friend you shared your dreams but now its him or you."

"That's… disgusting." Sakura muttered her hand beginning to shake. If she had to be put through that she didn't know what she would do. It was against all that she stood for.

"Ten years ago the graduation exam rules changed." Kakashi spoke up again. "A year before, a great evil had filled the school with terror. Without pause or hesitation a young boy, not even a ninja approached the class and took down over a hundred other students."

The three glanced at Zabuza as the began to register who the boy from the story way.

"It felt so – GOOD." Zabuza exclaimed.

He charged and elbowed Sasuke in the gut, stomping on his stomach and then twisting his foot to push deeper. Blood began coming from the boy's mouth.

"Naruto!" Sakura called exchanging a glance with her teammate and they both performed their respective clone jutsus. Sakura quickly performed the headhunter jutsu as well, hiding with in her clones as she did so. All the clones held up kunai. The Naruto clones charged while the Sakura ones stayed to guard the bridge builder.

Zabuza easily pushed the Naruto clones off of him but it had allowed Sasuke to get away and Naruto tossed him a giant shuriken. Sasuke leapt into the air and tossed the Shuriken towards Zabuza but had it pass the clone to aim for the real body. Zabuza gripped it with is free hand, but a shadow was following the first shuriken and with both hands occupied he couldn't' catch it. While he was to distracted ot control his clone, Sakura appeared from the ground and sliced the water clone in half with a kunai effectively ridding themselves of half the problem. She glanced over at the second shuriken and smirked. _I think Naruto has it from here._

Zabuza dodge the shuriken by jumping but then the weapon poofed into smoke and Naruto appeared from it. While in the air, he tossed a kunai at the back of the enemies head. With a simple turn of it he would be able to dodge so Sakura sent another kunai to the other side, the only way to dodge both would be to let go of the water prison. And that's exactly what he did.

Spinning the Shuriken in his hand he charged for Naruto seeing as he was the one who aggravated him the most, but Kakashi stopped the shuriken's motion with the guard on the back of his glove.

"That was an excellent plan you three. Creating clones as a distraction and clones to protect the bridge builder. Then Sakura hid under ground when her clones were made waiting for the moment to destroy Zabuza's own clone. Good work."

"That's not all!" Naruto grinned. "While he fought the clones I turned into the demon wind shuriken. I used a clone to transform into the shuriken but throwing it to Sasuke it looked real. He could tell it was me in an instant and pulled out his own. One was real and one was me! Then I hid in the real shuriken shadow."

"Of course it was obvious we can't take Zabuza out even if its all three of us." Sakura spoke now. "So we weren't aiming to even hit him but to break up his prison and destroy the clone." She finished.

"I got distracted is all." Zabuza said.

"Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted you were forced." Kakashi said bitterly, still in the deadlock with the enemy. Zabuza started to push harder on the shuriken until Kakashi flung it away. Then they parted and landed on the water, making hand sign after hand sign, Kakashi mimicking Zabuza without a millisecond in between. Duel water dragons rose when they finished and collided, water splashed onto the land and showered over the three genin and the bridge builder. Sakura's clones were destroyed from the heavy impact so the three took a stance to defend their client.

They were in a deadlock again – Zabuza's sword against Kakashi's kunai. They jumped apart again. And Kakashi was mirroring Zabuza's actions down to a T, the same way at the same time. Sakura was awed. He even spoke the same words as Zabuza at the same time and then an image of himself appeared behind Kakashi.

Their sensei was thoroughly messing with Zabuza's head.

Kakashi made a Vortex jutsu that swallowed Zabuza and destroyed tree's, he was going in a whirlwind of water through the forest and that same water was going to suck up the three genin and bridge builder but they jumped to a safe height in the trees. When the water subsided, Zabuza was lax against a tree, Kakashi threw kunai to pin him there but before he could give the final strike, three senbon needles coming from Kakashi's left struck Zabuza's throat.

Sakura glanced in the direction the attack had come from. There, on a tree branch was a masked black haired ninja. Their hair was long and beautiful, almost similar to Sakura's but this person had theirs tied back in a bun with only two strands hanging down. They wore a standard land of water pinstriped outfit, which stopped at their knees. Over this they wore a green scarf-like belt with white trimmings, and around their waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around twice and light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same color as their kimono.

The masked ninja bowed. "Thank you. I have been tracking Zabuza for a long time waiting for a chance like this to finally kill him."

"By your mask you're a tracker ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi pointed out while checking for a pulse on Zabuza's unmoving body.

"Very good." The masked person stated.

So this person was a tracker ninja, someone who hunted down ninja that broke away from their village to make sure the rouge didn't leak any of the village's secrets. They had to destroy every trace of the body because it contained secrets even in its physical essence, medicines used on it, chakra, jutsu all of it. Their suppose to deal with the body on the spot so nothing gets missed.

The person continued to explain how they were part of an elite tracking unit of their village and that it was their duty to stop Zabuza. Sakura really couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman, it sounded like a woman… and the hair was so pretty. If it was female then she was still very young to be elite but could be in her upper teenage years. If it was a boy then by height and voice alone he was very young, around their age even. _And already Elite? Just what and who was this person?_ She squinted trying to find any indication of gender. This was going to bug her forever.

"WHO ARE YOU ANYWAY!?" Naruto exclaimed running closer to the branch the tracker nin was standing on.

"Calm down Naruto he's not our enemy." Kakashi stated. _Oh okay it's a boy _she smiled to herself being brought to piece of mind.

"Didn't you see what he did! Zabuza was huge! And this kid, whose no bigger then me took down Zabuza with one move! So what does that make us? We're just fumbling around!" He shouted. "HOW CAN I ACCEPT THAT!"

"Even if you don't accept it, it happened." Kakashi stated putting a hand on his head. "In this world there are kids younger then you and yet, stronger then me."

The tracker nin jumped down to Zabuza and picked up his body. Finishing his job by excusing himself and disappearing into the wind. Kakashi put his headband back over his eye and Naruto began punching the ground exclaiming how they were nothing.

"Naruto," Everyone directed their attention to Sakura as she spoke. "Even if he was the one to deliver the final blow we did pretty well holding our own against him, especially for our second ninja battle. If you think about it we took out his clone and freed Kakashi – there's not even a scratch on the bridge master who's our client. And if you really think about it, Kakashi had worn Zabuza out, weakened his mind and pinned him to a tree, it would take hardly anything to kill him then as long as it was done quick enough." She came closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't doubt his abilities being that he was an elite and all, but he only got that strong through working so we're going to have to work too. Even if we can't do much now, lets grow and fight together so one day we'll be even stronger then him!" She smiled at her comrade and helped him stand up.

"Sakura's right Naruto." Kakashi stated. "And besides It'd be wise to save your anger for the next enemy anyway." He turned to the rest of the group. "We haven't finished our mission yet, we still need to get the bridge builder to his bridge."

The man laughed and apologized for the trouble telling them they could rest up at his house once they got there. Kakashi stepped forward, then his eye widened in pain before he fell to the ground – unconscious.

They had to carry him the rest of the way.

* * *

Sakura was worried about their teacher who was currently resting in one of the rooms of the house. They were about to go check on him and see if he was up and sure enough there he was eyes open but looked exhausted. He sat up and held his face.

"Are you alright sensei?" Sakura asked.

"I'll be fine with rest but something's bugging me."

She nodded. "Me too. Its odd, something's off. Tracker ninja are suppose to deal with the body right away but he took it away somewhere." Sakura commented.

"And the weapons he used. What were they?"

"Throwing needles." Sasuke's eyes widened as he gave Kakashi the answer. "No way!"

"Exactly. None of it adds up." Kakashi said.

"But you guys demolished that ninja!" Commented the bridge builder who was leaning against the wall of the room. The genin sat down in a circle with Kakashi.

"Here's the truth," Kakashi removed his hand from his face. "Zabuza is still alive and he'll be back."

Naruto the bridge builder and the bridge builder's daughter all gasped in shock. Sakura clenched her fists.

"But you even checked to see he was dead!" Naruto exclaimed.

"His heart had stopped temporarily to simulate death, the weapons used were senbon, they can go deeply but don't kill unless they hit a vital organ – not in the neck. They are adapted from medical treatments like acupuncture. Trackers are trained to know every part of the human body so this kind of thing is easy for them."

"But he carried Zabuza's body – which was much heavier then him - away-"Sakura started.

"And used senbon which are precise but rarely fatal." Sasuke added.

"So from this we know –" Naruto began.

"That He wasn't trying to kill Zabuza, but save him." Kakashi finished for everyone. They all looked at each other, worried.

"You guys are over thinking this." The bridge builder stated, but Sakura could tell that he was getting nervous.

"Hesitation leads to disaster when in suspicion a ninja prepares quickly." He stated.

"But how will we stop him when you can barely move?" Sakura asked.

"I can still train you." The three hesitated not sure what good it would do, and then nodded. "The only way I beat him the first time was with your help, you've all been growing."

"That isn't going to make it better!" They turned their heads to a voice from the doorway. A little boy in green overalls and a yellow t-shirt was standing there looking angrily at the ninja in the room. His hair was dark brown like his eyes and he wore a white hat with blue stripes.

"Inari!" The bridge builder called. The boy jumped into the man's arms. Inari's mother scolded him on being rude while his grandpa said it was okay because he was rude to them too. The boy glanced at the three genin.

"Mom you should see that these kids are going to die! Gato's men will come and find them and wipe them out!" The boy let Tazuna go as he talked. The he looked back at Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura. "You guys are stupid if you think you can win! If you want to live then go back where you came from!" He ran out of the room then.

Sakura stared after the boys retreating form. She wanted to tell him he was wrong but she was deeply afraid that he was right.

* * *

"Training starts now! We'll start with chakra. Chakra is fundamental source of power, thus understanding it is essential." Kakashi leaned on his crutches and held up a finger.

"We know that." Sasuke was clearly bored.

"Yeah we learned about Cat-ra a long time ago!" Naruto said.

"Its chakra Naruto. Sakura, would you do the honors?" He gestured to the pink hair member and she nodded. Pulling out a scroll and unrolling it.

"I'll explain it simply for Naruto's sake. Chakra is the elemental life energy a ninja uses in jutsu – a source of all of his power. Now this energy has two forms – physical and spiritual. Physical exists in all the cells of the entire body all working together." She gestured to a pictured of the human body and specific chakra points. "While spiritual is the primal source of power that is intensified by training and experience. Both must be drawn out and performed together in order to work. Hand signs are what focus and release the chakra."

"Correct on all points. Iruka really did have some excellent students." Kakashi stated.

"What's the big deal! The point is to learn the jutsu!" Naruto whined.

"Naruto's right for once." Sasuke commented. "We're already using it in our jutsu."

"No you're not getting it! You have not mastered this power you barely scratched the surface. Its like Sakura said you have to draw on the physical and spiritual energies and combine them within yourself." He scolded them. "Each jutsu requires different kinds of chakra in different proportions. You most select and combine them in exactly the right way. You've just been guessing and hoping so far. Unless you can balance and control chakra then the jutsu is worthless and you waste energy, before you know it, you're out of chakra. "

"So how do we achieve it?" Naruto asked.

"You have to make it second nature and be willing to put you're life on the line in training."

"What do we do?" Sakura spoke this time.

"Climb a tree." He said simply. The three students stared at him.

"You're kidding…" Naruto said

"Nope." He then demonstrated by scaling a tree, using nothing but his feet, until he was upside down. "I'm applying the chakra to the soles of my feet, allowing me to walk upside down."

"How is that going to help us?" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's the only way to fight Zabuza. First learning to draw a precise amount of chakra to a precise point in the body is difficult. This type of climbing requires a subtle amount of both types of energy. The feet are the hardest points to focus. Getting it? If you can master this you will theoretically be able to master any jutsu. Maintaining it is the second step. I can talk about this all day but that won't help you." He tossed kunai at them. "Use this to mark the highest point you can climb without the use of your hands. Then try to get past it next time and next time. Start running first so you can get momentum" He stared down at his students. "Ready?"

They all three picked up the kunai. Sakura looked around. She had this mastered a long time ago and it didn't even take her that long to do it only a few days. She easily climbed to the top and stared down at her teammates. They looked like little ants. Naruto barely made it half a foot, while Sasuke got to about a quarter of the height before pushing off.

"Come on you guys you can do it it's easy!" She called down, her voice echoing through the forest. Kakashi turned to look at her.

"Well looks like you have the most advanced chakra control of the group." He commented. "Well done."

"Whatever" Sasuke muttered. He expected nothing less, he'd seen her do this 3 years ago when they first talked, she did it easily like it was nothing.

"So not only does Sakura understand chakra but she can focus and maintain it as well. Looks like she has the best chance at becoming Hokage right now and looks like the great Uchiha clan isn't really all that great." Sasuke and Naruto glared at Kakashi.

Sakura smirked down at them and stuck her tongue out as she began walking to a lower branch to hear and see them better. She stopped on a tall branch just above the one Kakashi was on in another tree. "Come on guys I've been doing this since I was 6!" That made Kakashi turn to her and his eye widen slightly. _That long? Just how strong is Sakura? _He tried searching her chakra limit. _This…close to Sasuke's. It doesn't come near as close to Naruto, but he has the nine tailed fox. _

"Sakura, come here, I want you to practice a bit extra stuff as well seeing as though you got this down." She jumped over to his tree and then using her chakra control flipped upside down on it to face him. "I want you to focus the chakra into different parts of your body, hands feet and such and then try using it in attacks. One of the legendary sanin uses that quiet often. Also over this time period I want you to try storing chakra in a certain part of your body and pooling it there, it's a strenuous task and if not done properly can cause harm, but when storing chakra you are making room for more to flow in and makes the supply even bigger." She nodded.

"Alright Sensei! I'll do my best!" She jumped down and headed over to her original tree, she'd start with her fingers. Wondering how strong she could make them. She held two fingers out, moved her chakra in, took a stance and pierced her hand right through the middle of the tree. She smirked. _This will be fun. _

Hours later everyone was huffing and puffing. Sakura had tried doing kicks and made small craters each time. She just kept striking the same hole, making it bigger and bigger as she practiced, not wanted to tear up the terrain to much. Her punches were stronger then her kicks, she could currently punch through trees, but not completely demolish them. She even tried focusing chakra into her legs to see if it made her faster and it improved her speed greatly but also depleted the supply quick so she decided not to do that to often. She even kept walking up the tree like Naruto and Sasuke. Currently she was meditating, trying to store chakra, it took a good hour to even figure out how to do it and after that the process was extremely slow and was wearing her out quickly.

"Hey Sakura." She lost focus and the chakra she had been storing all got released again. She groaned. _How am I ever going to keep it there when I'm not meditating? _She glared slightly in front of her where Naruto was crouching. He looked all beat up and his poor head had defiantly seen better days. Glancing at the tree she saw he hadn't made it that far yet. "You're good at this right? Can you give me some pointers? But don't tell Sasuke please!" He whispered.

She stopped glaring and blinked. Naruto asking for help? She had offered to help him help to pass the academy exam before and he had turned her down, and now he was asking. She smiled. Seems like he's been learning after all.

"Well will ya?" He asked. She giggled and nodded then proceeded to tell him a simple way to do it.

"Just relax and focus on the tree. You can't get distracted or you'll lose control. Its simple."

It was the only thing that would be simple for a long time.

* * *

Sakura sat on the bridge meditating again. She had been doing this all night and had been interrupted when Kakashi told her to guard Kazuna while he built the bridge and only a little bit didn't escape. She was starting to figure out how to keep it there though and she was more relaxed while meditating now.

"Are you always this lazy?" Tazuna's gruff voice broke into her concentration but luckily only about half escaped this time, which wasn't much considering she could only filter a little in at a time. It was more then what she started doing but the supply was really miniscule and wouldn't be of much use right now. She turned to the man.

"I'm meditating to store chakra, if I get good enough I won't have to be meditating in order to do it." She explained. "But if you want some help I'd be more then happy. Builds muscle you know?" She grinned raising her arm and flexing while using her other hand to grab her bicep. Tazuna chuckled.

"Sure, grab some wood and follow me", she walked over to the area he had come from and grabbed wood, using some of her chakra to help her seeing as it was too heavy without it. _There goes my storage _She mentally sobbed but began to follow him down the bridge none the less. "So where's the blonde idiot and the one with the attitude problem?" He asked.

"They're training on Chakra control." She explained.

"What was it to hard for you?" He asked and she giggled.

"No, I had it down years before I even became a ninja, so sensei told me to practice storing it instead. And protect you of course." He gave her a blank stare.

"You're joking." _Don't attack the client, don't attack the client. _Sakura found herself saying that mantra a lot with the more time she spent with Tazuna. But she had to admit, the old guy was growing on her even with his disrespectful behavior. It wasn't just for a mission she was going to protect him, it was because she wanted to. "You can leave it here." He said placing his own wooden plank down. It was then another tanned man with dark brown hair came towards them.

"Hey Tazuna I need to talk to you." He stated coming forward. Sakura finished putting the plank down and glanced curiously at the two.

"What about?" He asked wiping his face with a towel.

"Well I've been thinking … about the bridge and well - I want out. I've pushed my luck far enough already."

"You're going to quit on me just like that! You're kidding!" Tazuna shouted clearly angry.

"I joined and stayed because of our friendship but my life is on the line just being here. Gato and his thugs are going to show up eventually. They'll kill you and the bridge will never get finished anyway. It's a lost cause why don't we stop while we still can?"

"No chance." The other man looked taken aback at the serious tone coming from Tazuna. "This is our bridge. Our island is poor and it will stay that way until this bridge connects us to the mainland. What we're building is commerce, trade and hope!"

"There won't be much hope if we're all dead." The darker haired man muttered as he hung his had. Tazuna pushed past him saying it was time for a lunch break and telling him to not bother coming back.

The dark haired man began walking the other way but Sakura ran to catch up to him. "Hey wait!" He turned around as she reached his side. "Please stay and help it'll get done a lot sooner." She said smiling gently.

"You heard Tazuna, he doesn't even want me back and I'm not going to risk my life anymore then now." He scoffed trying to walk forward again but she just followed him.

"I know he said that but I'm sure he'd be happy if you stayed. He won't act like it but I know he'll appreciate it. I know he wants you here." He glared at her.

"How would you know? You're just some kid hired to protect him."

"I know because I've been getting to know him over the time and I know that he thinks that way. He's prideful so he won't admit when he's wrong or when someone has touched him but that doesn't mean he doesn't appreciate it. I can see it in his eyes, just like I can see in yours you don't want to disappoint him." She smiled but then narrowed her eyes slightly looking honest, confident, determined and strong. "And if I'm hired or not I'd still want to protect him. But I'm not just protecting him, I'm going to protect you and every other hero on this bridge that's working to save this village!" He stared down at her in slight awe before the look vanished.

"I don't think you can do anything against Gato, you're just a little kid and – there's not such thing as a hero." He began walking away again and Sakura didn't bother to run after him. Instead she called out.

"Tazuna is a hero. A hero is simply someone willing to give their life to save someone else, who will fight for the greater good. You're one too you know, at least, you were." He stopped for a second before shaking his head and kept on walking, Sakura sighed and turned in the other direction.

He came back later that night.

The sun was setting in the sky when they left the bridge, walking into town. Sakura was shocked to say the least. A young boy was running away with a piece of bread while someone called out 'thief' into the streets. A man held up a sign saying he would do any kind of work and two kids were sitting by the side of a house, looking all dirty and starving and cold. The buildings were all worn down and the clothes of every person were tattered, dirty and most certainly old. Sakura had a new appreciation for Tazuna all at once. He truly was a hero, there was no doubt in her mind.

She followed Tazuna into a small nearly empty shop. Only a few vegetables were placed in some shelves, they looked more like scraps. As she was observing the surroundings, she felt a hand touching her purse and she delivered a swift kick to a man who was standing next to her. "Keep your hands to yourself buddy!" He twitched on the floor before standing up and running. Tazuna quickly purchased his good, complimented her on the way she fought like that and then they continued on their way home.

While walking back she felt a tug on her dress and was about to turn around and yell when she a little kid before her. His clothes were worn down and dirty, like everyone else but his eyes were a big innocent blue and his smile was genuine as he reached out his hands and said one simple word. Please. She couldn't bear to disappoint the child so she handed him some candy she had in her pocket. He thanked her before going away and Sakura's heart was touched, she actually felt warm tears pricking her eyes.

"That's how it's been since Gato came here, kids are suffering and adults are too afraid to stand up to him. They lost all hope, that's why we have to finished the bridge. Not only will it bring commerce and trade, but it will also restore the spirit of our village and people." Sakura looked at Tazuna with admiration. "When the bridge is finished, people will start to believe again." He clenched his fist tightly at his side. "They'll believe they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us!" Sakura looked at him determinedly.

"Don't worry." He looked down at her. "He won't."

For once, he didn't make a disrespectful comment, as if he wanted to accept her words.

She wanted to accept them too.

* * *

That night it seemed like Naruto and Sasuke were having a competition on who could eat the most but they just would end up puking.

"STOP EATING IF YOU'RE JUST GOING TO THROW IT UP!" She hit them both on the head. "I get it eating makes you stronger but only if you eat the proper amount, throwing it all up is going to make you weaker and you're wasting food!"

Of course they ignored her.

A little after dinner Sakura glanced around the kitchen. There was a picture of their family there but a whole corner was ripped out. "I'm sorry, I know its none of my business, but who's the person torn out of this picture?" She asked. The three family members stopped moving for a second before Tazuna's daughter spoke.

"That's my husband." She said. Her voice sorrowfull.

"He used to be considered a hero here." Tazuna stared down at the table and Inari ran out of the room as quickly as possible.

"Inari where are you going!" His mom called after him.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't of said anything I'll go look for him!" Sakura said feeling guilty she didn't bother to put on shoes as she raced out the door. It didn't take much to catch up to him and she gently gripped him by his arm, pulling him to face her. He was in a room that looked out into the ocean on the last level of the house.

"Hey what's wrong?" Her voice was full of worry and concern.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" He choked out. "You wouldn't understand! You don't get what it's like to suffer! Can't you see you're just going to die? There's no such things as heros!"

Sakura gripped his shoulders a bit tighter. "Stop whining." She said, voice hard and her eyes narrowing. "Stop acting like a little victim and crying. I don't know what its like to suffer? Everyone suffers kid so stop acting like you're the only one." It only made the tears flow harder from his face. She let go of him and stood up turning away and gripping the doorframe before completely leaving. "You say there's no such thing as hero's but there is. Right now, your grandfather is fighting to save this village and everyone in it, he's risking his life for a good cause." She glanced back at him with narrowed eyes. "That's what a hero is."

When she turned the corner she saw Kakashi standing there. "Wasn't that a bit harsh?" He questioned, raising his visible brow. She scoffed but looked at the ground guiltily.

"It was just the truth." She walked back down stairs ahead of him and he followed right behind.

"So what exactly is that story?" He asked Tazuna when they arrived back in the kitchen. There was a pause as Tazuna held his gaze with the table. The whole room was completely silent.

"He wasn't his real father. He came into our family later and he brought so much happiness. He and Inari were very close." Tazuna never once looked up form the table. "In those days, Inari used to laugh all the time." He began to choke up on that sentence and he clenched his fist so tight they shook. "But then, that all ended." Tears fell from his eyes, the first time Sakura ever saw any kind of emotion besides anger or sarcasm from him. "He never laughs any more. All because of that day everything changed. The work was stolen from this island leaving us powerless – hopeless. And Inari suffered the most. Ever since that day."

"Tell us. What happened?" Kakashi asked.

"First you need to know about his father, the man that taught us the word courage."

So he told them about the day he came three years ago. How some boys stole Inari's dog and held the young boy back. Then tossed the defenseless puppy into the river even though it couldn't swim. How they told him to be a hero and save his dog if he cared about the animal. But he couldn't swim either and the lead boy ended up pushing him in instead and even though the other two told him he went to far, he didn't do anything to help and just threatened to push them in too. That's when the dog learned how to dog paddle and began swimming to shore while Inari was left in the water calling out about ho he didn't want to die. The boys then chased after the dog, leaving Inari to drown. He passed out from lack of air and when he woke up, he met Kiza. He gave Inari some fish and told him that he shouldn't worry about being afraid because he was just a kid. He also told him to live his life so he had nothing to regret and that "if you care about something you should protect it, no matter how tough or how sad you have got to keep trying. Be willing to put your life on the line, protecting with both arms and never giving in. "

After that they were inseparable. He looked up to Kiza, following in his footsteps like a real father and son. He just naturally became a family member and when the town needed him he became something more. The village was flooding and they had to swim past the current to tie a rope so they could pull the flood gate shut. Only this could keep the district form being washed away, but it was practically suicide. He told Inari that this was their village and that they had to do everything they could to help. With that he swam out and saved the village from the flood. From then on Kiza was a hero that taught them the meaning of courage.

That was - until Gato showed up and took over. Kiza was the only one to stand up to him, and it took his whole gang to stop one man. They smashed his arms so bad they turned purple and useless, unusable, then put him on display in the middle of the entire village. To really set it in and make an example they killed him before Inari's and everyone else's eyes. He was heart broken and his soul was crushed. They all lost their will.

There was only a brief pause before Sakura choice to break the silence.

"Well then." She stood up. "I think we should prove its true." She looked at her teammate. "Lets prove that there are real hero's." Naruto stood on shaky legs.

"I'm with you all the way!" They looked at Sasuke who sighed then stood as well.

"I can't have you two getting ahead of me now can I?"

"You guys you shouldn't push yourselves to hard, you could actually die." Kakashi warned.

"Don't worry sensei, "Sakura began as the kids filed out the door. "We can't die yet, we have a village to protect!"

Kakashi just shook his head.

"What am I going to do with them?"

* * *

Naruto had kept training all night while Sasuke and Sakura had returned in the early morning hours so they could get some sleep, it would do them no good to be exhausted. Sakura got some rest for a change and woke up energized. She looked at her right arm, the place she chose to store her chakra was in her upper right arm by her shoulder. She had gotten quite a bit of it stored and had enough in there for a whole extra jutsu. She could feel it all gathered in that spot, and a small red line was left there because of the chakra.

She exited her room and came down for breakfast, taking her seat by Sasuke and the empty chair where Naruto should have been.

"Was Naruto out all night?" Kazuna asked.

"Yeah he's working hard but if he doesn't get rest its not gonna do any good." She said looking at her food. "He could get himself killed that way."

"Well I certainly hope he's alright, a child spending the night in the woods alone?" Inari's mother said in a disapproving tone.

Sakura's brow twitched, she spent the majority of her nights in the woods after all.

"Don't worry, he's a ninja, he can handle himself." Kakashi said.

"Sakura's right. Naruto's a loser he's probably lying out there dead somewhere." Sasuke said before standing up and heading out the door, his food already gone. "I'm going for a walk."

Sakura finished her food quickly. "I'm going to go look for Naruto, to make sure he's alright!" she said running out the door as well.

* * *

She found him fairly quickly, he was helping a girl in a pink kimono pick herbs. Her hair was long and dark and beautiful it reminded Sakura of someone she'd seen before. She walked over.

"There you are Naruto I was worried you were hurt!" She came over and then turned her attention to the girl. "Hi its nice to meet you, I'm Sakura, Naruto wasn't causing any trouble was he?"

The girl laughed. "No no. Although I'm concerned as to why he was sleeping in the woods." _That voice… I've heard it somewhere._

"I wasn't sleeping I was training!" Naruto grinned.

"So are you a ninja? Cause I noticed the headband you were wearing, or are you just making a fashion statement?" She asked.

"You noticed huh? That's right I'm a ninja and only super cool ninja can wear these. Isn't that right Sakura?" She just smiled at him.

"Well they gave one to you so they;re obviously not all give to super cool ninja." She said in a joking tone lightly hitting him on the shoulder as she kneeled down next to them.

"How come you weren't training then?" The girl asked Sakura this time.

"oh me? I did try last night but I ran low on chakra so I went to get some rest, I'll be no good if I'm to worn out to do anything." She said simply.

"Oh really? I see that's all very impressive." She looked back at her work as she continued to speak. "But does that mean you're training for something dangerous?"

"I'm just training to get stronger!" Naruto exclaimed and when pressed further he said, "I need to get stronger and stronger, so I can become the best ninja in my village so everyone will know who I am and respect me. There's also a kid I have to prove something to."

"So are you doing it for this kid or yourself?" After a short pause she chuckled. Naruto asked what was funny and so the girl rephrased the question. "Is there, someone precious to you?"

"What are you sayin sis?" He asked obviously confused. The girl looked down disappointed and turned to Sakura.

"What about you." She blushed as Gaara was the first to come into her mind before all of her other friends.

"Well I suppose you could say that. But I have a lot of people who are precious to me. I guess you could say I want to protect everyone." She said.

"Well when you have someone you want to protect you become genuinely strong. But tell me, how can you protect everyone if you have to hurt people in order to protect others?" Sakura's breath caught. She had a point, what if she had to chose who to protect, Naruto or Sasuke? Ino or Hinata? Or what if she had to choose between Gaara or any one of her friends. She didn't think she could ever make that choice.

"I hear ya! I know exactly what you're saying!" Naruto said. The girl picked up her basket and started to leave.

"You two will get strong, very strong." They paused then for a moment. "Oh, and by the way. I'm a boy." Naruto and Sakura both sat in shock as the guy continued to leave and Naruto started having a spaz attack. Sakura froze then.

_A boy… with that hair and voice. _She looked back at the retreating form eyes widening. _No its. _

"Naruto stop it." Naruto glanced at her curiously, by the seriousness in her tone. "That boy, is the one that saved Zabuza."

"What no way!" He glanced at him too. "I think you're seeing things." She shook her head.

"The hair, the voice the female looks but yet a boy none the less. I've only run into one person like that Naruto and that person just so happened to save Zabuza."

"Well then what are we waiting for! Lets go after him!" He stood to his feet and was about to charge when Sakura stood and held him back.

"Don't Naruto! You're weak from not resting and he was obviously good enough to be a living partner of that ruthless rouge ninja. We don't know what were up against and your not even at one hundred percent. It'd be suicide." She waited until he began to understand what she said. "So lets get back to everyone soon and let them know that way we can be on our guard." After a while Naruto pushed her hand away and reluctantly agreed, heading back the way they came.

* * *

They told Kakashi sensei, but Sasuke wasn't back yet so they waited at the training grounds. While they were there there Naruto kept practicing and with a few more pointers he was able to get close to the top. Of course then he tried to show off by pretending to slip just to hang upside down before actually truly falling. Luckily Sasuke chose that very moment to show up and he grabbed Naruto's leg. Clearly his training paid off too.

"You really are such a loser." He commented.

"If I'm still sane by the end of you're training it will be a miracle." Kakashi stated. He then filled Sasuke in on what Sakura had found out. "Zabuza shouldn't be ready to move yet but just in case I want today to be your last day of training. We'll spend the next couple of days shadowing Kazuna and keeping him safe." With that Kakashi left them too it.

Today Sakura decided she'd join the boys in tree climbing. "Race you to the top?" She asked and they accepted her challenge. Obviously she won. It didn't take her long and it took the boys all day, so Sakura spent her time keeping her chakra balanced to stay on the tree's tip as well as storing chakra, it made the process slower but at least she wasn't having to meditate to do it. By the end of the night, the boys reached the top of the tree and Sakura hand enough stored chakra for two good jutsus now.

The next day they headed to the bridge so they could protect Kazuna. Naruto had to stay back because he over did it the other day, but Kakashi was back on his feet so they weren't missing a man really.

But when they got to the bridge, Everyone was knocked out and in pain, luckily not dead. That's when the mist rolled in. And they took a defensive formation. Clones of Zabuza surrounded them in an instant, and Sasuke took out half while Sakura got the other half.

The real Zabuza then appeared before them with the 'tracker' from before.

"Looks like you got rivals Haku." Zabuza stated.

"Yes it appears so." The boys calm voice came out.

"So the tracker ninja stuff was just a bunch of bull?" Kazuna stated.

"They look pretty chummy to me, I'd say they've been playing tricks like that for some time now." Kakashi said.

"Well you're going to regret showing up here again." Sakura stated.

"Hiding behind a mask who does he think he's fooling?" Kakashi added.

"Speak for yourself Sensei." Sakura stated.

"That's it I'm taking him out." Sasuke said.

"Then I'm going with you, you're strong but who knows what he has up his sleeve. Its best to work together." Sasuke glanced back at Sakura reluctantly before agreeing. _Besides. I know how strong she is so this might work. _

The boy Zabuza had called Haku, started turning and causing a mini tornado, heading right toward Sasuke, Sakura went to be by his side and both brought their kunai to the ready. Haku tried to jab a senbon at Sasuke, but was blocked by Sasuke's kunai. They were in a dead lock and so Sakura tried to attack from behind Haku. However, he was able to block that as well. But it kept both of his hands occupied. They kept trying to get their attacks in, only to be blocked each time.

"I don't want to fight you. Please give up now so I won't have to kill you." Haku stated.

"How about you just stop trying to kill the old man?" Sasuke stated.

Sakura stepped back and created some wind clones to protect Tazuna just to make sure Haku wouldn't go for him if he got passed them. But when she did this, Haku began making hand signs with one hand. And used some kind of jutsu that shot needles at Sasuke, but he dodge easily by using chakra control to speed up. He then appeared behind Haku, using attack after attack. He kicked Haku towards Sakura who did a spinning hook kick right back to Sasuke, then Sasuke kicked Haku up and Sakura appeared above the air-born boy to kick him down at Zabuza's feet. She landed by Sasuke and they smirked at each other.

"There's no way they're as fast as Haku!" Zabuza exclaimed.

"You made a mistake insulting these ninja and calling them brats. These two happen to be the best young fighters in the village, and Sakura has the sharpest mind." Sakura's smirk grew at the compliments. "And last but not least, our number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja is Naruto Uzumaki."

"If we keep going like this, we'll be the victims instead of them. Get on with it!" Zabuza ordered the boy at his feet. Haku began to stand and faced the two genin once more

"Right." With a few hand signs, the air grew cold and sheets of ice began to form around Sasuke and Sakura, they looked just like mirrors. Before they knew it, they were basically inside a building made of mirrors. Then Haku morphed into the ice, his imaged being reflected in every inch of it. Sakura and Sasuke stood back to back, holding their kunai defensively. "Now, we'll begin." Haku's voice echoed throughout the room. "I'll show you what speed really means."

Senbon began flying from all directions. The first one made their heads turn and like lightning the next one came, then the next and another. It was impossible to tell where they were coming from. Sakura tried to block with her kunai but it seemed hopeless. When one was blocked two others would hit her. Sasuke wasn't doing so hot either. Their kunai got lost next and all they could do was cover their heads. Warmth from Sasuke's body was the only comfort Sakura could get and she started to whimper. Then she felt a warm liquid sliding down her face and she touched it, opening her eyes to see blood.

_This. _She turned to Sasuke seeing blood dripping out of multiple cuts in his body. _This isn't how it should go. Its even worse the last time. I'm supposed to protect everyone._

* * *

_It had been four years now, since their deaths. Sakura and Ino hardly ever saw each other, never mind speak and all of Sakura's time was spent in her own personal training grounds. That's what would make her strong after all. She had already found out her elemental chakras were wind and earth and learned several jutsus to go with them. Her chakra control was great considering it was the first thing she ever worked on, and she was ready to avenge the deaths of the only people who cared about her. She just had to find their killer. _

_Tonight was a rare night, it was one where Sakura would actually return to the Yamanaka residence. She needed to get some supplies from there, like bandages medicine. She also needed some cooking supplies to work on a solider pill recipe she had yet to perfect. She was passing by a restaurant on their street and noticed the lights were still on. Getting slightly curious as to why seeing as everything was closed at this time of night, she looked through the window of the shop and saw Hinata and Ino laughing and sweeping up some dust, no big deal. The flowers on the counter were obviously from the Yamanaka shop, which must mean Ino had made a late night delivery and Sakura knew that Hinata worked at this particular restaurant sometimes to get away from home and its issues. Sakura had heard Ino tell her parents about it last year when she joined them for dinner because she forgot to bring food to her training grounds that day. _

_So from this Sakura deduced, Ino made a flower delivery because it was just right down the street and that she decided to stay and help Hinata close up shop for the elderly couple that ran the place. _

_She was going to continue on her way, having lost interest when something caught her attention in the alley beside the shop. There were three men sneaking past, and Sakura saw a glint of metal in the moonlight. Straining her ears and hiding in the shadows she picked up some of what they were saying. She didn't know why, it really was none of her business, but Ino was in there…._

"_Are you sure tonight's a good night to rob this place?" A sleezy voice made its way to her ears. _

"_Of course it is, the old man and women left early and had the young girl close up shop my scouter was the last customer there and saw it all. The little girl that waitresses there won't cause any problems, we can knock her out easily." A dark and eerie voice came in. Sakura's eyes widened the tiniest bit, the first reaction she had to anything for 4 years. _

_They didn't know Ino was there… what would they do to her? Sakura knew Ino used to have a very big personality, she wouldn't go down quietly and that means that they'll hurt her for sure. What if she ended up in the hospital? Sakura clutched her chest, she felt something there, it felt like her heart was twisting, it felt almost like her parents were dying all over again. She tried pushing it away and looked back into the shop._

_I could do something, she thought. I could tell them. But… its none of my business and why should I care? They don't care about me. Her eyes narrowed. Ino gave up on me, she doesn't care. She was going to turn around when she heard the men once again. _

"_What happens if she does struggle?" _

"_Either get her to shut up temporarily or for good I couldn't really care less." _

_Sakura's eyes widened again. Ino….._

_Then she remembered something, Gaara, he protected her because they were friends, and even though they had been growing apart, Ino was her best friend once. She started moving towards the shop and barely heard the men jiggling the back door. _

_Without even thinking she dashed into the shop and the two girls stared at her in alarm. _

"_Don't just stand there get out! Can't you hear them! There are people trying to break in here from the back!" All of her emotions from the past four years were on display and her voice wavered many times. She felt like crying like screaming like destroying everything she saw and then breaking down into never ending tears and it took all she had to just stand. But most of all she felt like hugging Ino and the Yamanaka's holding them tightly and telling them how sorry she was. That was her dominate feeling. _

_It wasn't the time for this now though. She needed to get them out of here and they weren't moving, just staring at her like she was a crazy person. "Didn't you here me! I said get out." Taking clumsy steps into the shop she went behind the counter and ripped open some cabinets, grabbing the metal pans and spoons inside, she handed the two girls one of each from over the counter. "GO! Run up and down the street, bang these together to get peoples attention and tell them what's going on!" She told them motioning for them to move out the door. The two were still unresponsive. That's when the back door busted open and the three turned their attention to the three men before them. One of the men saw Sakura motioning her friends to the door and quickly blocked it, holding a knife in front of him while another turned out the lights so any passer-bys wouldn't see what was going on._

_Sakura picked up the closest thing too her which turned out to be a very heavy pot. And then tossed it as far as she could trying to use her chakra to help lift it. It ended up crushing the foot of the man by the door and he fell over bracing himself on the wall, cursing Sakura all the way. Picking up a pan for defense, sakura leapt over the counter and began to shove the two other girls out the door. They made it and Sakura was about to step over the threshold herself when a hand grabbed the collar of her dress and yanked her back, choking her slightly. _

_He lifted her off the ground using one hand and Sakura, panicking and having all of her emotions swirling around at once, tried to hit him with a pan but he gripped it with his other hand. She felt like breaking, her sorrow and anger, her regret and guilt were tugging her in all different directions and it was tearing her apart from the inside. She couldn't remember what to do, she couldn't defend herself, now that she knew the other two were safe she could hardly even move and she was breaking down. Tears sprung in her eyes and she desperately tried to punch the man, kick him bite him, but she was just flailing her arms. She was defenseless. _

"_I'm sorry! I'm sorry Ino! Hinata! Everyone! I'm sorry!" She cried, knowing her sobs were inaudible._

"_Will SOMEONE SHUT HER UP!" The third man, who was looking for the money, said in a hushed scream. With that the other two began to beat her, and there was nothing she could do, she could barely move the blows. They felt like nothing compared to what she was feeling inside, by the time they got what they wanted there were people gathering at the door of the shop so they left her half dead and made a run for it. _

_She was only half conscious so the figures of Ino, Hinata and Ino's parents were just blurry blobs. But somehow she knew who they were. _

_What? She thought to herself as Mrs. Yamanak called out to her, her voice desperate to get a response. They care… they aren't trying to step around me…She could feel Ino's mothers hand caress her face lightly as she tried again to get a response. They no longer only see a little girl whose parents died… they see me…me. _

"_SAKURA!" She heard Ino scream as she succumbed to darkness a small smile gracing her bruised and bloodied face._

_She woke slowly, he eyes moving a millimeter every few seconds. Glancing around she tried to sit up, but it hurt to move. She looked at her arm and leg and noticed they had casts encompassing them, she could feel thick bandages around her stomach and assumed she had broken a few ribs. Glancing past the white sheets of her bed she saw flowers on the bedside table and Ino sitting there in an uncomfortable looking chair right next to it and her bed. The blonde's red-rimmed eyes widened as she glanced back at her friend. _

"_Sakura, you're finally awake, its been a whole month." She saw Ino's eyes start to water before the girl rubbed them furiously. There was a silence as she just looked at Ino and Ino looked at the ground. "Why did you do it Forehead?" Sakura could tell Ino was doing everything she could not to cry but even through the strain the nickname she hadn't heard in four years sounded like music to her ears. _. _"You scared me have to death you know that? I thought you were dead…" Ino couldn't suppress the small sob that followed that sentence. _

_Sakura could only stare in shock at her former best friend. I worried her… I thought that the only people that I could do that too died… the people that cared - I thought they all died when she stopped trying to reach out to me. Sakura thought. But here Ino was, crying, sobbing and shaking all because she thought I was dead? And why did I almost die?_

_After a while the answer came to her and she then questioned herself over why she did those things. She reached over through the pain, using the arm that wasn't broken and put a hand on Ino's shoulder. Smiling gently and genuinely at her friend showing the most loving emotion she ever showed in her entire life she gave her reply. "Because Ino, you're my friend I couldn't bare it if you got hurt and there was something I could have done to stop it. I care about you a lot." Yes… that was right. Ino was her friend a friend she loved and cherished very much. Then she felt warm tears spring in her own eyes. "And.." her voice wavered. "And I'm …. So –s-sorry I-ino." She began crying and clutching tightly to her friends shoulder. "I-I-I I'm so S-or-r-ry." She kept repeating the mantra to her friend over and over. She cared about Ino and all of this time while she had been avoiding her Ino had been caring and worrying about her too. She had caused her best friend so much pain just by being away and ignoring her. "I'm so sorry for worrying you. For causing you so much pain." She stared into her friend's shocked eyes. "And I promise I'll never do it again. I'll become strong and protect you and I promise I won't make you worry like that ever again!" The two sat there and as soon as they both stopped crying they began to talk like Sakura had never even been gone those four years. When Ino left, Sakura still felt at peace because now she knew._

_She knew she cared about Ino and later that day when Ino's parents were making sure she was alright, she realized she cared about them too and even the Hyuga heiress who soon became her second closest friend. She cared about the nurses working so hard to take care of everyone in the hospital and she cared about all the other kids at the school. Even the annoying Naruto. She cared about all of them… So she would become strong so she could protect all of them. _

_She vowed to herself she wouldn't let anyone get hurt like that again._

* * *

_That's right. _Sakura narrowed her eyes and began to stand, ignoring the pain of the slicing needles. _I promised. _

"I promised." She said aloud, grabbing another Kunai and clutching it tightly. She brought forth the Chakra into her hands to speed up her movements so she could block the senbon. "I promised I would protect everyone!" She shouted. A senbon dug into her shoulder just then. Out of the corner of her eye she barely noticed a trace of movement form one mirror to the next. _He's moving in between them! _She thought astounded trying to keep up her blocking. _But I can't see him my eyes aren't fast enough! _Then something came to her. _That's it! If I can inhance my hands and ther parts of my body with chakra, whose to say I can't do the same with my eyes? _She began to pool small amounts in to her eyes, the irises having a faint blue glow around them as she did so. It was working, she could see a bit better now! It wasn't perfect but it was a hell of a lot better then before.

"Sasuke come on I need your help here!" Sasuke began to stand grabbing his own Kunai. Sakura was keeping a steady pace but she didn't know how long she could hold it up especially when using chakra in her eyes and hand.

"Its Useless." Haku's voice echoed through their icy prison. "These mirrors simply reflect my image, allowing me to travel at light speed. Through my eyes, you are moving in slow motion."

Sasuke could see bits of him as he moved and tried using his fireball jutsu but there was no way it could melt the ice and Haku was moving to fast for him to land a hit.

"It's a keke genki. A blood line trait." Sakura muttered to herself. _Crap there's no way we can beat him like this. _"Sasuke, can you see where he's moving at all?"

Her teammate looked around. "Yeah I think I can a little, my eyes are adjusting to his movements." The two tried to keep up their pace, but Sakura had to stop using her chakra reinforcement in order to save energy and was beginning to be pelted by senbon. She fell to the ground when a senbon struck her in the leg, she couldn't move unless she took it out but that would cause blood loss, not something she could sacrifice right now. But her attempts to block in this state were pathetic.

"Sakura!" Sasuke went to protect her, having to protect her as well as himself, meaning he could no longer try his fire ball jutsu. It was proving to be a difficult with Haku's immense speed. Sakura didn't know what to do.

Sasuke's eyes had adjusted to Haku's movements, sure, and he was holding up alright with blocking the other attacks and protecting Sakura at the same time. But he was getting worn out too. Even though he kept telling himself to see everything - that was all he could do to concentrate. _Come on! _He blocked the next move _See Everything! _

"You won't be able to dodge this." Haku's voice echoed as he tossed his next round. Sasuke's eyes widened and he found himself shocked because he _could _see everything. The needles seemed to be moving at normal speed and when he finished blocking them and he looked up again and opened his eyes – he had the sharingan with one black dot in it. He smirked. With this, he could win. Sakura snapped her head up upon this happening and when Sasuke turned to glance at her she could see the Sharingan in them.

_Incredible. _She thought. _I need to help too! _Steeling her determination she tried to stand even with the strain it was putting on her. But while she was doing so Haku threw a senbon at her and Sasuke pushed her out of the way.

"That's it. Play time is over." He spoke. Sakura and Sasuke were now on opposite sides of the mirror prison. Sasuke prepared himself, expecting the attack to be aimed at him, but was left in utter and complete disbelief when the senbon path turned out to be straight for Sakura. He acted before thinking and ran as fast as he could to the other side.

When Sakura looked up her eyes widening in horror.

There was Sasuke in front of her, needles stabbing out of all different directions. She knew she looked worse for wear too but this… it was terrible. They were everywhere in him and blood dripped out of his mouth as he turned to look at her. "Sorry." He said. "Did I get in the way of your shot?" his legs shook and he collapsed to the ground.

"Sasuke!" Sakura caught him and tried to keep him up right.

"My brother is still out there" He said. "… I promised I'd stay alive until I killed him." He gasped out. "Sakura– don't let your dream die." He fell unconscious then. And Haku, who had been face down on the ground moments before due to Sasuke blocking his attack, stood up and morphed back into the mirrors.

Sakura couldn't believe it as tears pooled in her eyes. Her whole body shook and she felt like throwing up. _He can't be dead. _She thought.

"_see you soon Sakura!" _her parents voices echoed in her head again.

"_Don't worry we'll be right back!" _Yes… that was her moms face and voice.

"_You're not hurt are you?" _Sasuke…

Sakura laid him down gently and then ripped the senbon out of her thigh, blood beginning to pour out of the open wound as she stood up, arms hanging at her sides limply. "How could you." She said, head looking at the ground and her hair covering her face. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!" She screamed glaring up at the boy. "I promised I would protect everyone!" She screamed at the mirrors. "And I'm going to! I'm not going to let you hurt anyone again!"

She strengthened her stance and began forming hand signs. "Sasuke protected me-" She formed another and took on a stronger stance. "He risked his life for my own." Again she placed her hands into proper position, "I refuse to believe he's dead!" She formed one after another, her hands moving in rapid succession. "Because I made a promise-" She made the last sign,"And when I make a promise" she sucked in a large gulp of air "I KEEP IT" She blew the wind out all around them as fast as possible. "Wind Style: Whirlwind Prison!" The chakra around her swirled in a mighty vortex and she used it to surround her and Sasuke in a protective dome of wind. She felt a force trying to break through it at all sides knowing Haku was trying to find a weak point, but the wind was like its own blade, and he was only causing himself more damage. Normally this jutsu is used to imprison an enemy it can even kill them if your strong enough to suck all of the oxygen from the center. But Sakura was going to use it a bit differently.

Yes, she would use it as a defensive weapon, the wind like blades she began to expand the area of the jutsu as far as possible until it was pushing up against the mirrors. She could feel Haku's own resistance against her. She just pushed harder, reaching out with it as much as possible even though she could feel the strain on her Chakra as she did so. but she wouldn't relent, there was only one way out for Haku now, and that way was the other end of the mirrors. It was either that, or be shatted with the ice.

She didn't care about the strain it was putting on her now, she needed to do this. She had to protect Sasuke, that is if he was alive… The thought saddened and angered her making her push even harder and she felt the ice begin to crack before shattering and she was able to release her jutsu, falling to her knees on the ground, unable to stand. Her chakra was almost completely exhausted.

That took a lot more chakra then she hoped, but it was a C rank Jutsu only used by Chunin or those genin who trained extensively and it wasn't a jutsu she practiced often. She didn't have it even close to mastered, and expanding it like that especially with the resistance took a lot of effort. Compare that with her already weakened body from attacks and right now she should be dead.

There was only one thing keeping her alive and that was the chakra she had stored in her right arm. She barely had any chakra outside of her storage supply. There was perhaps just enough to keep her standing, if she chose to stand up that is.

But she didn't she just glanced up at Haku's body as he began to stand. His mask had fallen off and Sakura could see his face now. She felt disappointed to see that it really was the boy from the forest. She had hoped she had been wrong but… as always she was right.

"I have failed you Zabuza. I'm like a weapon that has been broken and is of no further use." He seemed to say to himself before he began to stalked towards Sakura who then began to stand and pull out a kunai just in case she needed it. "Sakura." He stated taking another step until they were just a foot apart. "Kill me please." Sakura's eyes widened in shock. Had she just heard right?

"Why would you say that?" She asked appalled.

Then Haku told her all about how he served Zabuza because he had given him a purpose in life, because he now failed he felt that he had to die, to be disposed of because he out lived his usefulness.

"That's not true!" Sakura said taking a step forward. "As long as you're making something of your life it doesn't matter of people recognize it or not you're still living a purpose."

"How so?" He asked.

"well… I want to protect people, it doesn't matter to me if they know I'm doing it or not, as long as I know I'm succeeding then I know I'm living for a reason!" She explained. "You decide if your life has meaning, not anyone else."

"Is that so." Haku said, tilting his head to the side. "If that is the case, I choose my life to have meaning by helping Zabuza." He grabbed her hand that held a kunai and lifted it towards his neck. "Now, please kill me." Sakura paused before inching her kunai forward a bit. _If its what he really wants…_But before she could do anything his face seemed to reawaken and go on alert, he removed her hand from its proximity to his throat.

"Sorry Sakura change of plan." He performed a few hand signs. "I'm not ready to die just yet." With that he vanished, and Sakura glanced all around only to se something begin to appear through the mist. She saw two shadowy figures, one that looked like Zabuza, the other shadow she saw through he mist looked like her sensei and he had chakra around him that was so strong it was visible. He was charging forward, and that's when a smaller form appeared instantly in front of Zabuza, taking the strike that was meant for the rouge ninja.

"NO!" Sakura screamed.

She knew who that was.

* * *

Kakashi had seen his students disappear into the ice mirrors created by Haku. He tried to go and help but each time he attempted this, Zabuza just kept telling him that if he went to help his 'brats' then he'd go after the old man. Zabuza chuckled then, but moved out of the way when a kunai came flying at his head. "Nice try." He chuckled darkly once more, not looking behind him. Kakashi could sense Naruto's presence now. "But that will never be able to kill me."

"Who said I was trying to kill you?" He shot back defiantly

"Naruto go protect Tazuna, I don't think Sakura can hold up her clones when she's in the ice mirrors." Naruto pouted at Kakashi's order.

"But that's so boring! Why don't' I just go help them?" Kakashi glared at Naruto.

"I have faith in them that they can get out, if you go in there you'll just cause more trouble now help out our team and protect the bridge builder!" He told him sternly. Naruto looked downward still sulking but accepted his duty and went over to Tazuna.

"They'll never be able to break out of those ice mirrors." Zabuza laughed manically this time. "No one can its his_ special_ ability."

"You don't mean?" Kakashi's eyes widened as he glanced once again at his two students imprisonment.

"That's right, it's a keke genki."

"COME ON SAKURA,SASUKE I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!" Naruto called as he also watched and saw from the spaces in between each rectangle of ice, his friends getting slashed at until Sakura feel to the ground from a leg injury.

"Don't Naruto. Don't pressure them. They won't be able to beat him even if they can find another way to shatter the jutsu." Kakashi stated. "They have the desire to win but not to kill, while that boy lives on pain – thrives on it even." Kakashi put a hand on his headband again – he had to use the sharingan there was no other way.

Zabuza charged forward, and tried to stab his eye as soon as he made a move to reveal it, but Kakashi used the other hand to block and blood dripped to the ground. Zabuza then explained how Haku had surpassed even him so even if he went down Kakashi didn't' stand a chance against Haku.

Then he performed his ninja art again, vanishing into the mist. Claiming Haku had made a counter attack that made Kakashi's Sharingan useless. The mist got thicker and thicker, and you couldn't see anything. Naruto didn't know what to do he didn't know what was going on in the mirror prison, only that his friends were on the defensive and it was looking really bad. The smartest thing for him would be to stay alert in case Zabuza showed up to attack the bridge builder. It didn't take long before Sakura's clones began to vanish one by one, showing that she was unable to hold them any longer.

Naruto was right about Zabuza going to attack the bridge builder, it was the first place he showed up. Naruto moved to stand in front of the old man and when he did Zabuza bought his sword down hard. Naruto braced himself, thinking he'd be sliced in half but he wasn't all that surprised when Kakashi appeared before him to take the blow.

His sensei gripped his wound.

"What's this? Worried about the little punks? Relax, you'll have plenty of time to weep out an apology for them when you see them in the next life!" Zabuza exclaimed laughing maniacally and disappearing again.

"Naruto! Stay with Tazuna!" He shouted running into the mist looking for Zabuza.

* * *

Zabuza threw his blade at Kakashi while he stayed hidden within the mist, the only way Kakashi could dodge it was by listening for the whistling sound it made in the air. Then he pulled out a scroll and summoned his ninja dogs to sniff Zabuza out. They found him easily, Kakashi's blood was on his blade after all, and pinned him in place.

Kakashi was going to finish this now. He charged his hand full of chakra so strong it was visible, scattering around him like lighting in his hand. "Lightning style: lightning blade." He stepped back and charged, ready to kill Zabuza but he hit something before he made it to him. His eye widened as he looked down.

The fog had been slowly lifting all this time and everything was becoming visible once again. And there before Kakashi, was Haku.

"NO!" Sakura's voice echoed down the bridge, it was such a horrible sound. Kakashi glared at Zabuza over the boys head.

"That's a good boy Haku, useful to the very end, I knew I found a treasure when I found you." He chuckled.

"He saved your worthless life at the cost of his own." Kakashi spat.

Zabuza then raised his sword and was going to hack right through the two bodies, but Kakashi grabbed Haku and flipped out of the way. He landed on one knee and then closed the poor boys eyes before joining the fight again.

Naruto looked over from his spot now being able to see Sakura. He sighed relieved, but he didn't see Sasuke anywhere. "Sakura hey! You're alive! So you and Sasuke are alright?" He asked. Sakura turned her head down and Naruto's heart dropped. "What's wrong?" He called out unsteadily. "Where is he?" He could feel the dread creeping up on him.

Not on their first mission-

they just couldn't lose someone.

* * *

Sakura looked at Haku's body and then averted her eyes. Even though he was the one to kill Sasuke, she wished she could have saved him too. So far, they had lost two people. She clenched her fists. _Why have I been so useless! Half this battle I've just stood here, there's – there's nothing I could have done. _

He heart broke when Naruto called over to her hopefully, hopeful Sasuke was with her. She couldn't meet his eyes as she looked at the ground. Turning she began to walk to where Sasuke's body was and fell to her knees beside him.

While the battle between Zabuza and Kakashi raged on, Tazuna told Naruto he'd take him over to where Sakura and Sasuke were, so that he wouldn't be disobeying orders. He thanked the bridge builder and the two began to rush over to his comrades.

When they made it there Sakura glanced up at him through tear filled eyes and jumped to hug him tightly. "I'm sorry Naruto…" She said, trying to keep the tears from actually falling. "I couldn't do anything."

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. Sakura pulled back to look at him before responding.

"Keeping you by me so I won't lose you too." She said, and both of them fell to the ground next to Sasuke.

She let go of him, but held onto his hand as she reached down to touch Sasuke's face. "He's so cold…"

"Don't hold back your feelings on my account." Tazuna commented looking away from the sight. There was just silence.

"I was the perfect student." Sakura started. "I aced every test I ever got." She never took her eyes off of Sasuke as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. "Did you know there are 100 shinobi principles? I memorized every one of them. I used to love it when they tested us on them." She stroked Sasuke's hair in an endearing gesture. Even if she didn't like him all that much, he was her comrade, teammate, and friend. "There was this one test, where they asked us to describe the 25th principle: A shinobi never shows his emotion no matter the circumstance." She said, choking up as she began to sob. "Feelings are a weakness that only cloud his judgment and weaken his sense of duty." She let go of Naruto's hand and began to pound on Sasuke's chest. "COME ON WAKE UP!" She cried hitting him some more. "You idiot your suppose to act all cool and say 'were you scared?' Or something stupid like that." She stopped hitting him and fell onto his chest crying and gripping the cloth. "why –a-a-am i-i-I so-so us-e-le-ss! I couldn't protect you, or my parents or even Haku!" _Why does everyone always get hurt or die?! I couldn't even save Ino or Hinata from pain on the night of the robbery because I had been the cause of the pain. _Perhaps, as Haku had said, it was a foolish dream. **(1)**

Naruto looked down at the sobbing girl before him, he wanted to cry too but instead he stood up looking over to the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza. He put a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was going over there but she gripped his hand.

"Please Naruto." She sobbed. "Please don't go." He sighed but complied to her wishes, staying by them.

* * *

Kakashi was easily hitting Zabuza and dodging all of his messy swings of his sword, One of Zabuza's arms had been popped out of place and lied limply at his side. Kakashi got behind Zabuza and held a kunai to his neck, so to save his life, Zabuza swung his arm backwards with the sword and tossed it behind him with such momentum his other arm also became useless.

That's when Gato appeared.

"Did quiet a job on you didn't he Zabuza? I must say I'm, disappointed." Behind the small man was a whole small army of bandits. Gato clicked his walking stick on the ground as he spoke.

"Gato, I don't understand what is all of this? Why are you here and who are these thugs you brought with you?" Zabuza asked, more then a little suspicious.

"Well you see there's a new plan." He tapped his walking stick on the bridge. "You see in the new plan you die right here on this bridge Zabuza." The mist nin's eyes widened the tiniest bit. "You cost to much so I'm taking you off the pay roll, and these guys behind me cost a bit too so if you could take a few of them out before they slaughter you I'd appreciate it. What do you say 'demon of the mist'" He laughed. "You look about as demonic as a wet kitten." The bandits behind Gato laughed along with him.

"Well well Kakashi, looks like our fight is at an end, when I'm not working for him Tazuna is safe and we have no quarrel."

"I suppose you're right." Kakashi commented, staring down at the thugs.

Gato went up to Haku's body and kicked a few times at it. "Man I wish he was alive to feel that." The wicked man laughed.

It was then that Sakura turned her head in that direction and became furious.

"STOP THAT!" She called over from her spot. She sat up and looked over at Zabuza. "Why aren't you doing anything!"

"I merely used him. Now its over, he's usefulness is at an end. The boy means nothing."

"If you mean that you're an even bigger rat then I thought. As far as I'm concerned you're enemy number one!" She shouted wanting to go over but finding she didn't have the strength to move. All she could do was yell and point a furious finger at Zabuza. "He did EVERYTHING for you he LIVED For you." She turned her gaze to the lifeless boy in front of them. "You were the most important thing in the world to him! And he meant nothing to you? Nothing at all?" She questioned, her eyes searching for any sign that Zabuza actually cared about the poor boy. "You never felt anything for him? And If we become stronger, does that mean we'll all be as cold hearted as you?" Her eyes filled with even more tears up. "He gave his life, and for what? _Your_ dream? You wouldn't even let him have a dream of his own but he didn't care." She clenched his fist and banged them into the bridge, causing tiny dents even without chakra. "And you just toss him aside like he's nothing! A broken tool. Man that's so wrong, so wrong."

"You talk to much." Zabuza spoke, his head hanging down. Sakura looked up and stared at the ground before Zabuza barely being able to see small wet droplets fall to the ground. Was Zabuza crying? The shinobi glanced up. "You're words cut deep, deeper then any blade. While he fought you, his heart was breaking in two because he was too soft and too kind. He felt pain and sorrow and now, curse him, I feel them too. And something else, content this is how it ends." He bit the bandages covering his mouth and tore them off. "What? Cat got your tongue? Are you surprised to find out I'm human? Even shinobi are human no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail. At least, I have failed." He looked down. "Boy, give me your kunai." He told Naruto. Naruto stood and lazily tossed it him, to sad to do it any other way. Zabuza easily caught it in his mouth then streaked forward, his arms flailing uselessly at his sides. He swiftly took down enemy after enemy, even when he was stabbed in the back he still fought, going straight for Gato until he finally pierced his kunai through the short man.

"If you're so eager to join your friend then go ahead but don't take me with you!" the man cried.

"No, I'm not going where Haku has gone." He limped closer to Gato. "No it's the other place we're going. You and me both Gato. I can't think more of a fitting destination for a demon ninja can you? Oh yes I should fit right in!" His eyes took on a crazy look but somehow it seemed forced. "You on the other hand I fear are in for a very long and painful eternity!" He proceeded to stab Gato continuously until the short man fell off the bridge.

He turned away and spat the kunai out. Then He began to move towards the bandits again, who all parted so they wouldn't be close to him. He finally fell down in the middle of them all when he tried to limp towards Haku. "Not once did I ever thank you Haku. Forgive me for that." He whispered, staring at the body of his companion.

* * *

What were am I? Am I alive? Is that Sakura crying? His eyes opened, to feel Sakura's hand in his hair gently stroking the tresses while her other gripped his shirt tightly and he could feel her sobbing.

"Sakura?" There was no way that was her, she would never do something like that. As soon as he spoke her head shot off of him and she glanced at his face, her eyes were pooled with tears and rimmed red. Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a small o in amazement before turning into a wide grin. **(1)**

"You're alive." She whispered then hugged him as gently as possible. "Thank goodness don't you ever scare me like that again or I'll kill you and resurrect you and then kill you again!" She called. Sasuke smiled slightly, yup this was the same old Sakura. When he began sitting up she got off of him and wiped the tears from her eyes. He smirked, it looked like he already was someone she wanted to protect, now he just had to become the most important one and she'd do whatever he said to help him. She defiantly proved her abilities to him on this mission. There was no doubt she'd be a powerful asset. **(2) **But the way he saved her without hesitation, it made him wonder exactly why he did that. It was defiantly something to think about, but now was not the time.

"Where's Naruto?"

"I'm right here." Naruto said causing Sasuke to glance a little past Sakura to look up at him.

"You're late, as usual." He said smirking. Naruto gave a small smile back.

"You know me, always causing trouble." Then he got more serious. "Sasuke, don't scare us like that again." There was a silence amongst the three before Sasuke began questioning what happened.

"Haku died." She informed him. "He jumped in front of Zabuza like a human shield and gave his life to protect him. And then Zabuza went and killed Gato, I – I don't know if he died or not but right now he's not our enemy." She finished her report putting on a more professional tone.

_So he never meant to kill me. _Sasuke thought, standing along with Sakura. The three genin began to walk over to the others, Sakura and Naruto supporting Sasuke.

The thugs spoke next. "Wait a second! Now that Gato's dead we need money! So lets just get into this village and see what they've got!" As they were about to charge forward a harpoon landed in their path. Surprised, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Tazuna turned around slightly to see none other then entire village lined up with Inari at the front.

"There's one thing you're forgetting, before you get to our village you have to go through us!" On of the men in the crowd called. Naruto smiled.

"Why don't we help you out!" He said using his shadow clone jutsu as did Kakashi, forming a whole army of shadow clones.

"Still want to fight?" They all called, facing the bandits and thugs.

"Not really!" The bandits took off running in quite a comically way.

Kakashi stepped forward, closer to Zabuza's body and crouched down.

"Kakashi? Could you do me a favor, could you carry me to Haku so I can see him one last time before I go?" Zabuza asked. Kakashi nodded and began to remove the multiple weapons that were currently impaled in the ninja's back. Picking him up, he began to walk over to Haku. It was then that it began to snow. This wouldn't be odd if it hadn't been the end of spring. Everyone looked on in aw.

_Is this you Haku? _Sakura wondered. _Are you crying for Zabuza? _

Kakashi set the mist ninja down next to the young boy and Zabuza gave him a word of thanks before turning his head to face Haku.

"You were always at my side, the least I can do is to be beside you at the end." He reached his hand to pat Haku's head. "I know it can not be, but how I wish I could go to where you have gone. That I could join you there." Just a few seconds later, his eyes closed and he passed on.

"Of course, his spirit was as pure as the snow." Kakashi commented looking to the sky as the snow stopped and sun began to shine through. "Who knows, maybe you really will join him there. Whose to say?"

* * *

They gave both of them a proper burial on a cliff edge, putting Zabuza's sword by his grave. It was sunset and the sun painted the sky orange. Sakura would have admired its beauty if she hadn't been so saddened by both their deaths. After all, in the end Zabuza did have a heart and Haku was never bad to start with. He never _really _tried to kill them, not even once.

"Is it really the ninja way to use and be used? What's the purpose, the point, that's so stupid." Sakura said.

"It's a question without an answer and that's what something we ninja have to deal with every day of our lives." Kakashi told her as he stared into the fiery sky.

"Well then, I've come to a decision that I'll find my own ninja way! One straight and true and without regrets." Naruto proclaimed standing tall and looking out over the cliffs edge. Sakura smiled at him. _I think… that sounds good…I think that… I'll do that too._

The next day the bridge was finished because everyone had banded together and helped out. Sakura had even fixed the holes she had created when she punched the ground. "Its only finished thanks to you. I can never tell you how much we'll all miss you." Kazuna said at the front of all the villagers who waited at the gate of the bridge to see them off.

"We'll visit soon." Kakashi responded.

"You swear?" Inari asked.

"You bet." Sakura stated.

"In no time." Naruto added giving the kid a thumbs up. "Believe it." Inari gave a thumbs up right back and they all turned, waving good bye to the villagers as they did.

"So they were the ones that made you strong and you in turn made us stronger. Thanks to those ninja we were able to finish this bridge" Kazuna said.

"Speaking of the bridge, shouldn't we name it now that is finished.?" One of the villagers asked.

"Yeah, why don't we call it the great 7 bridge. **( Yes I realize how much of a stupid name that is)** They brought us good luck and maybe they name will too."

* * *

It was good to be back home and Sakura took in a nice breath of air as she and Sasuke waited at the bridge for their sensei. It was then that Naruto showed up, and he and Sasuke looked away from each other. She was annoyed, they'd been like this every since they got back. Those guys were such kids.

When Kakashi _did _finally show up, he used the excuse that he got lost on the path of life. Naruto then demanded for a harder mission because he was on fire – literally it was burning in his eyes and all around him. Of which Kakashi told him to cool down. Naruto then turned to Sasuke and glared, Sasuke just looked at him like he was insane and Sakura's brow twitched.

Their mission for that day was to weed out a garden. They were doing pretty well but Naruto ended up pulling up the garden too. He then got thoroughly beaten by the lady who owned the garden and ended up with a black eye.

Next was picking up trash from the river. Of which Naruto slipped in and fell down a waterfall only to be saved by Sasuke whose rescuing line was "You are such a loser."

Then when walking Dogs, he took the biggest one and got caught in mine field. The other members of team seven stared dumbstruck before sighing.

"Our teamwork is all messed up all because of Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed after they had finished their missions and were walking through the streets of Konoha. "Stop thinking that you're better then everyone!"

"Not everyone, just you. That's a fact. Unless you want to prove me wrong." He glared. All Sasuke could think about was how there were ninja stronger then him and he couldn't waste his time on these things.

"Lets call it a day, you guys can fight some other time." With that Kakashi disappeared. And Sasuke stalked off.

That's when Naruto began to get chased by a square cardboard rock. Which was revealed to be Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon who demanded that he play ninja with them.

"You do realize a ninja playing ninja is a bit twisted?" Sakura asked from her spot leaning against a fence. She had been watching the strange scene unfold this entire time and decided to chip in a little comment. Naruto's face started turning red as she stared at all of them.

"Who is this chick anyway Naruto." Konohamaru asked looking suspiciously at Sakura. "Ah! I get it you're a smooth operator boss. Come one I know she's your Girlfriend." He stated.

Okay now Sakura was ticked, but she knew physical violence wouldn't' work so instead she spoke. "You really expect to become a ninja with those pathetic observational skills?" She asked raising her eye brows like she was bored, hiding her rage. "Please, I'm not interested in dating anyone least of all Naruto. No offense," she said glancing at him apologetically.

"You're a witch and you're ugly too!" Konohamaru countered, to of which Sakura stalked forward and gave him a good whack on the head.

"You need to speak kinder to your superiors." She stated simply.

"I don't even think she's human! Did you see how wide her forehead is?" That set her of for real this time and Konohamaru made a run for it, crashing into someone while he was trying to get away. The whole group stopped to see a boy with purple face paint wearing a black, baggy, full body suit with a red and yellow circle on the front. He also had a black hood, which covered his head completely, and had cat-like ears on it. On his forehead was a ninja headband. Next to him was a girl with green eyes and blonde hair, which was gathered into four ponytails. She was dressed in a single light purple-colored, off-the-shoulders garment that extended to halfway down her thighs, with a scarlet sash tied around her waist. In addition she incorporated fishnet over her shoulders and her right calf and her left thigh. She wore her ninja headband around her neck.

"Can I help you with something?" The boy asked. Sakura felt like she'd seen these two before but she just didn't know where. Their headbands told her they were ninja from Suna. Perhaps they had been in the group picking on her and Gaara that day. The boy gripped Konohamaru by his blue scarf. "Does this hurt little punk?" He asked grinning.

"Put him down Kankuro, you'll only end up paying for it later." The girl spoke in a bored but commanding tone.

"Hey look the whole thing was my fault, just put him down alright." Sakura said peacefully stepping forward in case she had to intervene.

"Hey we have a few minutes before he gets here lets mess with these punks." Konohamaru began to kick at Kankuro. "You're feisty, but not for long." He said in a sing song voice.

"Let him go!" Naruto charged foreward only to slip as soon as the boy named Kankuro moved his fingers. Sakura observed and formulated a plan.

"Hey we said let GO!" Sakura said charging foreword like Naruto did only for him to move his fingers and her to slip as well. The difference? As soon as her body hit the ground it poofed into the wind of her clone and she appeared behind the boy. Delivering a well aimed kick to his back just enough to loosen his grip for a second so she could jump on his head and grab Konohamaru.

"OW why you little hag!" He yelled as she safely brought the Hokage's grandson back to the group. "I guess not all the genin here are wimps after all." He said. "None the less, you're annoying, all of you."

"Fine I'm not involved in any of this okay?" The blonde girl said turning her head away.

"Look I'm just gonna start with taking out the little lady in red here." He pulled back his fist and began running towards Sakura who narrowed her eyes and took on a defensive stance. But then he stopped as a rock nicked his hand painfully. He turned to look up in a tree off to the side to see Sasuke tossing a rock in his hand.

"You're a long way from home and way out of your league." Sasuke said in a bored tone.

"Thanks a lot but I could have handled it myself." Sakura said straightening up and look at Sasuke. He was acting all cool again, I mean sure she had just done that two seconds ago but seeing him do it still pissed her off even if she had cried over him on their first ninja mission. His attitude towards her had changed sense then, he was more confident about something, but she didn't know exactly what. And he looked at her almost as if she was something of his. She didn't know if he realized it or not, it didn't seem like he did.

"I know." He smirked down at her.

"Another wimp to tick me off." Kankuro stated. Sasuke just ground the rock in his fist releasing his grip so the dust would fall to the ground.

"Get lost." The two other kids in Konohamaru's gang began to fawn over Sasuke while Konohamaru had tears streaming down his face and he pointed at Naruto.

"How come you're not cool like that!" He whined. Which of course made Naruto angry.

"Hey punk, get down here. You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most all attitude and nothing to back it up." He released the bandages he had tied onto his back and dropped his bandaged package in front of him

"You're going to use the crow for this?" The blonde girl stated looking taken aback.

"Kankuro, back off." A new voice stated. Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to the sound of the voice. She knew that voice, it had matured and deepened but she still knew it. It was engraved in her very being. There, hanging upside down on the tree limb higher then the one Sasuke was perched on, was Gaara, in all his Gaara glory. "You're an embarrassment to our village. Have you forgotten the reason we came all the way here."

Her eyes widened her body shook with excitement and an uncontrollable grin spread out on her face. It'd been six years, but here right before her was Gaara. She finally got to see him again.

"Uh… hey Gaara." Kankuro said clearly nervous as he fumbled with his words. "Look the thing is they challenged us they started the whole thing really."

"Gaara!" Sakura whispered in an excited breath unable to speak any louder. No one could her hear but herself.

"Shut up." Gaara stated, his eyes narrowing. "Or I'll kill you." Sakura stepped back. Had she just heard right? Gaara… She searched though all the memories she had of that kind and sweet boy that had protected her, was… this really the same person? His head turned in their direction stopping at Sasuke and apologizing for any trouble his teammate may have caused. Then teleported to the ground using sand.

"Lets go." He told the two older ninja in front of him.

"Wait hold on!" Sakura called stepping forward. She needed to look into Gaara's eyes, she need to know if this was the same person. They turned to look at her, they made direct eye contact and she knew it because of the way his eyes widened slightly and he froze on the spot, hand twitching.

"Its really you." She muttered under her breath knowing they could all hear her. She smiled again eyes shining. "Gaara its really you isn't it?" She called clenching her hands hopefully. She took a step forward and he took one back.

"_Stay away from me." _He spoke through gritted teeth. Sakura look shocked. Sasuke just watched the scene unfold eyes narrowing.

_How did Sakura know this guy was – was he the one she was talking about the day we got their genin teams? _

"Gaara…" She whispered her eyes openly expressing her confusion. "What's wrong? What did I do? Is it because I kicked your teammate cause if it is I'm sorry." She said genuinely and innocently. The kind of innocents like when she had first met him. His eyes seemed to soften and his hands stopped shaking then he turned to face her fully, crossing his arms. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"I'm sorry but I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting before. Who you are?" He stated calmly. Sakura couldn't believe it. It felt like all of her hopes and dreams shattered in one go, she could feel tears stinging at the back of her eyes but she held them in. _Get a grip Sakura that's such a stupid reason to cry, it was six years ago get over it! _She told herself. Gathering her strength she tried her best to smile.

"Oh… I guess you don't remember me." She bowed, partly for apology and partly to hide her face. "I'm sorry – to have bothered you." Then she brought her head back up and turned away as quickly as she could with it still looking natural. She didn't know why those words hurt so much but she guessed she held the memories of Suna a lot closer to her heart then he had…

* * *

He hadn't seen her when he appeared and threatened Kankuro.

He hadn't seen her when he apologized to the boy in blue.

He hadn't seen her when he landed on the ground.

But it was impossible not to see her there, standing right in front of him with her pretty, mesmerizing green eyes staring right into his own and strikingly pink yet soft looking hair blowing in the gentle breeze of the summer day. When she stepped forward he stepped back. His eyes widened and hands shook as all the memories of his childhood flew back in his face. But unlike all the others, he had happy memories with her.

"_Stay away from me." _He spoke through gritted teeth. Sakura looked shock but he couldn't help the words. He hadn't felt anything but anger, annoyance and so one for years but just one glance at her and he was given an onslaught of everything else. He didn't think he liked it. It made him vulnerable and he felt like he actually cared.

_Lies. _He thought to himself. _Its just like Yashamaru. All lies. _He fought to keep control of the sand in the gourd on his back and that's when she looked at him curiously and concerned asking what was wrong. He couldn't control the way his eyes softened at her look. He couldn't stand that. For now she might have done nothing but he couldn't' guarantee she wouldn't do something later. But the way she was looking at him so innocent and pure and genuine… An inner war was raged within himself.** (3)**

All of these years he was always reminded himself to love only himself, and for the most part he was doing a bang up job. The lives of others meant nothing to him. But there were times when he remembered her and felt a longing to have her there, knowing he could never truly forget her or stop caring about her until she did something to shatter him or she died. He knew she wasn't like Yashamaru but he didn't want to take the risk either. Even though there was a time he believed she belonged by his side, there was also a time when she was ripped from him by other people and he ended up killing them. If she knew that there's no telling what could happen. He made up every excuse possible to try and hate her. So part of him hated her while the other part only wanted her to be with him and no one else at all times, so that no one could take her away. But even that side was cautious because if he chose that one and she then picked someone else over him he knew he'd be broken into unfixable pieces.

But… whenever he went to the Kazekage roof, he could still feel a ghost of the warmth from the time she had curled up next to him, or going to the herb garden he could picture her there telling him all about her home and herself. He wanted to erase these memories and feelings, to get rid of the ache he felt when he wanted to see her there next to him, and yet it was impossible and it angered him.

So this girl, she brought him joy and anger all at once and he didn't know what to do about it. She was his enigma. Part of him wanted to embrace these feelings and part of him wanted to be rid of them forever. Either way, there was no telling what he would do if he was to close to her.

He snapped to reality. For now they had a mission and because of that he couldn't let her distract him no matter how much he wanted to bring her to his side or eliminate her now so she stopped causing this mix of unexplainable emotion inside of him. He had to hold back on both. He turned to her fully and crossed his arms and did what any one would do when they don't want to talk to some that they haven't seen in years.

"I'm sorry but I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting before. Who you are?" He stated calmly. He could see it instantaneously. Its like part of her soul shattered through her eyes and half of him wanted to reach out and hold her, to tell her he didn't mean it and that he didn't want to see her sad. The other half wanted her to go, so he didn't have to see her like that. But both parts of him agreed, even after all these years he couldn't stand to see her hurt in any kind of way especially if it was caused by him. He mentally scolded himself for feeling that way. _Love only yourself. _He tried to remember, but in the case of her, it did no good.

Her face fell and her hands dropped to her sides. Those few words cut her deep and it was displayed in every ounce of her being. "Oh… I guess you don't remember me.." She said a sad smile gracing her features. She looked away from his eyes and he thanked the heavens he didn't have to look directly into her heart broken eyes as she bowed deeply. "Never mind then, I'm sorry to have bothered you." Then she stood and turned around, but it didn't stop him from seeing the water in her eyes.

He watched her retreating form and then the boy with blonde hair was going to follow her but she told him she just lightly hit him on the shoulder and he took the hit and he just stayed there. Gaara also noticed the boy in blue had made the slightest move to go to her but changed his mind. Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly. He wasn't fond of this male attention no matter what they were to her or she was to him. Again he scolded himself for this and tried to tell himself it was just because they were enemy ninja.

"Why are you here anyway?" The boy in blue asked.

"Have you been living under a rock?" Temari responded bluntly. "We're here for the Chunin exams, get the picture."

"What's that?" Naruto asked. "I've never heard of any Chunin exams. Believe it."

"I believe that you're completely clueless." Temari stated.

* * *

Sakura was just about to turn the corner when she heard Naruto's idiotic question, on impulse she stalked back to his side hit him on the head and explained. "Naruto you _idiot. _The Chunin exams are the exams all genin have to take in order to become full on Chunin seriously its basically explained in the name!" She rubbed her forehead irritated.

"Oh I am so there!" Naruto exclaimed and the three began to walk away again. That's when Sasuke dropped to the ground.

"You there! Identify yourself!"

"Who me?" The blonde girl turned around quickly looking hopeful. Sakura's eye twitched. _Really is it every girl in the female population? _

"No, you with the gourd on your back." He stated.

Gaara turned slightly, eyes narrowing only the slightest bit at the boy, but his expression was otherwise never changing. "My name, is Gaara of the desert, I'm curious about you too. Who are you?"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha." Gaara just blinked. _Am Uchiha huh? I've heard about them. He's definitely someone to keep an eye on. _

"I bet you're dying to know my name too huh?!" Naruto said point to himself.

"I couldn't care less." The three turned around from the last time and continued on their way.

* * *

He had noticed the smirk on the Uchiha's face when she had hit the blonde kid on the head, the way he looked at her so fondly and confidently, like she was something of his. The whole thing seemed to be a regular occurrence for those three, like they had gone through this a thousand times. He felt anger spike in him at the idea she was friendly with those two. He was mad at her a little but more so at them for trying to get close to her. **(4)** He just needed to get out of there, to vent these pent up emotions that all came out after he took one glance at the girl, but it seemed the Uchiha wouldn't let him when he wanted to know who he was. He was happy enough to oblige seeing as he then learned who the Uchiha was in turn. He was grateful they were able to get out of there then, as quickly as possible.

Gaara split from his siblings, looking for a quiet place to vent his anger. That's when he found a nice little clearing with a Sakura tree in the middle. It was the beginning of Summer so it was no longer blossomed, but there were still some petals splayed in the grass. This should do just fine. At least there was no way she would come here.

* * *

The next morning team seven was suppose to meet Kakashi on the same bridge as last time but of course he was late and he didn't even come up with a different excuse he just used the same one as last time!

"I know this is a bit sudden," He started once Naruto and Sakura had calmed down, "but I recommended you for the Chunin exams, these are the application forms. " He held out a form to each student and they all took it. Sakura began to read immediately. "This is all voluntary, its up to each of you if you don't feel ready, you can apply next year." He said. Naruto ran up and hugged him thanking him a lot. "Don't slobber on my vest." He scolded him placing him down. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the academy. It's a 3:00pm five days form now."

"Would that be three pm Kakashi time or three pm normal person time?" Sakura asked.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny." Kakashi stated but Naruto and Sasuke suppressed their chuckles. "that's all." With that he disappeared. _If he can disappear just like that how come he can't reappear too he'd get here a lot faster!_

"So are you guys going to take it?" Sakura asked as the three began walking away together. She knew the answer. Of course they would and she would as well. She didn't want to be left behind by them but if she had to see Gaara fight then she didn't know. He had threatened to kill his partner and he had seemed so serious like he would have done it. She didn't know if she could handle that side of him. She glanced at her teammates. What if he ended up fighting one of them.

"Of course! I'll get to face a bunch of strong ninja like the guy with the mummy on his back!" Naruto exclaimed and then he also glared in Sasuke's direction obviously indicating he meant him as well.

"Yes." Sasuke replied simply. "And I hope I get to fight that guy." Sakura's steps faltered.

"You mean Gaara?" She asked. He glanced at her and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Yeah him." He stopped and so Naruto and Sakura stopped with him. "What's up with you and that guy anyway? You acted like you knew him from somewhere." Sasuke asked. Sakura blinked, feeling a bit embarrassed to talk about it when he didn't remember her and here she was keeping it close to her all these years. She felt like a fool.

"Well, I met him six years ago on a trip to Suna with my parents." She said. "He kinda saved my life three times." Sasuke glared at the blush on her face and scoffed.

"Three times? How pathetic you should have been more careful." He turned forward again, not looking at her.

"Hey I was just six! And besides if I hadn't been save by him I never would have wanted to become strong to fight beside him one day!" She challenged before realizing what she said. Both her boy teammates stared at her.

"THAT'S THE GUY!" Naruto exclaimed. "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS SAKURA! HE ACTED LIKE HE'D KILL HIS TEAMMATE THEY SEEMED SCARED OF HIM AND YOU WANT TO FIGHT _WITH _HIM?" Sakura blushed again.

"Hey he obviously doesn't remember me so it doesn't matter anymore anyway!" She exclaimed. Sasuke just stared at her eyes still narrowed.

"So he's the guy you have a crush on." He said plainly trying to get more information.

"WHAT!? No I don't have a crush on him he's just my friend and I care about him!" She defended. Sasuke scoffed.

"Yeah he sure seemed _real_ chummy." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. She glared and shoved past him.

"Whatever just drop it."

* * *

Sakura went straight to her training grounds the next morning, but to her surprise, a large amount of the trees were taken down, having crashed to the ground. She stared in shock and disbelief. No one came here but her and occasionally Sasuke. But he wasn't strong enough to do this. She walked over to the destroyed section and noticed something. There were tiny grains of sand in the bark. Her eyes widened. _Was… Gaara here? _She shook he head, it didn't really matter who it was she was wasting time like this. So she reached into her tree to pick out her scrolls and books and began more practice. She figured the wind prison jutsu would come in handy again so she worked on that first. Focusing her Chakra and making a small one first, this time she as putting something else in it, she chose one of the broken tree limbs. Slowly she practiced taking the air away and watched the branch begin to shrivel up. Then she practiced expanding and shrinking the prison at will, creating holes in it, and even using it as a defense again.

By the end of practice she understood how to use it but it still took up more chakra then she would prefer and she knew she'd have to practice more until it was perfected, or expand her Chakra if she ever wanted to use that move. She touched her upper right arm. She still had her Chakra stored there and had been storing a little bit more every day. By now she had enough for three and a half more of her mastered jutsu, but because she had yet to master this one it would hake up that and a large chunk of her current Chakra.

She sighed, taking a break from ninjutsu and deciding to work on some taijutsu. She even tried out some more chakra infused punches and kicks. The craters were a lot bigger then they used to be, a whole person wide now. She felt proud at this accomplishment, but really wanted to see how far she could push it, using the last bit of her remaining chakra, without breaking into the stored up reserves, she put it into her foot and jumped bringing her leg down in her strongest heel kick yet. When the dust cleared she looked at the destruction and was please to see it was thrice what it was her last time. She'd work on not having to use as much chakra to get it like this and to expand her chakra so it wouldn't make a big deal if need be to use it.

She walked over to the sakura tree collapsed and took out a water bottle and some crackers from inside of it. That's when she noticed someone in the bushes. She froze, swallowing the cracker in her mouth and in a flash whipped out a kunai, tossing it in the direction that she sensed the masked presence. _How long has that person been there! Ugh I feel so stupid! They saw me training and with the Chunin exams coming up what if I have to fight them! _It didn't take long to figure out who it was, the sand that shot up to block the kunai gave it away instantly.

The red hair was the first thing she saw when he emerged from the shadows, then strange tattoo he had on his forehead and then his eyes.

"Gaara…"

* * *

The kunai whipped towards him and his sand blocked it in an instant. He froze. She had just tossed a kunai at him. _Her._ He glared at the tree he was behind before stepping out and directing his gaze to her. She seemed surprised he was there. Heck he was surprised she was there. He was coming back here to specifically make sure he avoided her, but here she was in what appeared to be her special training grounds. Fate just seemed to keep having them meet again. He had meant to turn around as soon as he came but he ended up watching her train instead.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned standing. She looked down at the food in her hands and then back at him before she held out her snack. "You want a cracker?" She asked casually.

"No thank you." He said. Truly she was an enigma. Someone is spying on her and she throws a kunai at them, of course any ninja would do that. But only Sakura Haruno would see them emerge, look completely unfazed and offer them a cracker. "Why are you here?" He asked right back without answering her own question.

"I'm training this has kinda been my training spot since my pa- since I was 6." He almost stiffened. He knew she was going to say when her parents died, but changed it. He guessed it must be a touchy topic with her, just like it was for him.

"So are you going to tell me why you're here?" She asked. He just stared suspiciously at her not answering. She sighed and laughed trying to lighten the heavy mood. "Gosh you talk less then when we were little, I mean I know you don't remember meeting me but I remember you and trust me you talked a lot more." She said trying to lighten the mood. It didn't do much but darken his mood as his inner battle began to rage on again. Whether to pull her close or kill her now. To keep her with him or save himself the emotional trouble and just get it over with. She noticed his sour mood and instead gestured to the destroyed trees trying to change the topic. "You do that?"

There was more time spent not moving before he gave the slightest nod, curious to see what she would think. She whistled and raised her eyebrows approvingly. "That is prettah cool." She said. Her way of talking reveled how awkward she felt as she tried to keep up a conversation with the silent boy. "I know I couldn't do that even with my strongest jutsu. So I guess I'm still not strong enough to be a on a team like yours." The last part was more to herself then him but it didn't stop him from remembering how she had said that right after he saved her life. How afterwards they watched the sunset and she had curled up next to him. He felt the urge to walk over to her and pull her to him so he could feel her warmth again, but his desire to keep his distance from her over powered that one, and he stayed put.

"Are you taking the Chunin exams?" He asked. He hoped she said no, he hoped he wouldn't spend half his time worrying about her and the other half thinking of how she would die if they encountered one another.

"Yeah, I mean my teammates are and I don't want to fall behind and in addition to that I think I'm ready to move onto the next level. I need more advanced training anyway." She explained. He cursed in his mind.

This was going to be hell.

* * *

**Okay I'm ending it there only because it has gotten WAY to long. **

**Reunion didn't turn out to be all that shocking by my heart had been pounding and my hands shook in excitement as I thought of what to write. In the end I'm not so sure I conveyed the feeling within the writing though. **

**I don't feel I described some stuff very well for example:**

**(1) Sakura crying over Sasuke. She may not like the guy all that much but he's still her friend and teammate. **

**(2) Sasuke had been growing more confident he could get Sakura on his side and then use her abilities when he needed her, but after seeing her interact with Gaara he clearly see's he's not the most important to her and feels a bit threatened by his presence. **

**(3) Gaara has a mix of feelings because he had been betrayed previously by a person he considered very dear to him, he is trying to not trust Sakura because he doesn't want to be hurt like that again but part of him wants to trust her while the other part doesn't. Part of him wants to kill her, thinking it will solve the problems he has centered around her and the other part want to keep her with him at all times. **

**(4) Gaara doesn't like other people being around Sakura, because even with his confused emotions, he still thinks of her as something to him and doesn't want anyone else to take her away, thus he doesn't want her to get close to others. Especially that of the male gender.**

**Next time On an all new what Fate Brings Forward! (Que Naruto music)**

_Time for preparation!_

_To save your life again._

_BEGIN! The Chunin exams! _

**All will be revealed in the next chapter:** Chunin exam arc: part 1


	8. The Chunin Exam Arc: Part I

**Well hello everyone! Nice to update anothr chapter again. I'd like to reply to one of the reviews I got on my last chapter:**

**hateme101:** I have to say I really do agree with you on that. I proof read the last chapter twice before updating but I felt it was a fairly boring chapter because it was basically hugging a little to close to the anime for my taste. But when I tried to cut some stuff out I was afriad it'd look to sloppy (although in the end it turned out pretty sloppy anyway.) I imagine alot of my readers were bored with that chapter so I tried to make this one different - it still goes through parts directly related to the anime but I sped through things I thought were unessential and this chapter is fairly short so hopefully its better then the last. Thank you for your reveiw it was much appreciated! :D

**I also want to give a big thank you to all my other reveiwers too! You guys encourage me to keep on writing this! (one of these days I'll list all of you guys but I have homework to do that I've been ignoring to write this chapter so it'll have to be another time.) **

**Please enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Chunin exam arc: part 1**

The days flew by fast and before she knew it, Sakura was walking up the academy steps with her two teammates. Sasuke was in the lead, walking slightly ahead of them while Sakura flanked his left and Naruto his right. Her heart was pounding like crazy with nervousness, but mainly with excitement. However, the Chunin exams wasn't exactly the only thing on her mind.

Ever sense Gaara showed up at her training grounds that day, he hadn't come back and, while working, she had done an excellent job at not thinking about it. But at times, like right now when she was doing _nothing but walking_, it was really hard not to think about it. It irked her he said he didn't remember her, but there was something, something in his eyes that told her he _did _remember. Maybe it was the look in them when she was disappointed with his answer or the way he seemed to relax when she apologized. She didn't know, but there was just something telling her he wasn't being completely honest and darn it she wanted to find out! If he did remember her then why pretend he didn't? She had missed her friend and was excited to see him, so it hurt when he acted like she was a stranger. She just wanted to know why.

These thoughts preoccupied her mind so much that she just barely noticed the genjutsu when they walked up to the 'third' floor. She didn't even say anything about it until Sasuke spoke, asking if she's seen it first because she had the sharpest eyes on their squad. It took her only a second to break out of her thoughts but Sasuke's eyes narrowed by a fraction and she could tell he noticed the slight distance she was putting up.

Trying to break away from the irritating unanswered questions, Sakura looked around and her eyes met that of a white-eyed boy with long brown hair that seemed to be around a year older then them. He glared slightly and scoffed which made her glare back. She didn't' really feel like putting up with this kids attitude. Next to him was a girl looking to be the same age as -eyed-attitude, she had two buns in her hair and a tomboyish look about her. Sakura liked that girl instantly. Then there was a bushy browed kid in green spandex on the floor and the girl with buns kneeled to help him stand up. These people looked familiar…

"Release the genjutsu already." She heard Sasuke tell the two Chunin at the door, and they reluctantly did as he asked before they disappeared. He looked back at her and Naruto, she currently had her thinking face on, a finger tapping her chin as she tried to remember who they were. _UGGH SO MANY ANNOYING UNANSWERED QUESTIONS! _"Come on you two, lets go." He turned and Naruto followed but Sakura stayed put still thinking and ignoring Sasuke. "Hey Sakura, snap out of whatever it is your in and come on already." His voice was irritated, she could tell that much but right now she was pretty irritated too. _Calm down Sakura, you can't be like this or you'll never pass. Don't let these silly questions get to you. _She tried to calm herself down and then began to follow them, only to be stopped by the brown haired boy asking Sasuke's name.

She got irritated again.

"GOSH WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO KNOW HIS STINKING NAME!" She marched over to the kid and clenched her fist as she glared right at him. "CAN'T YOU PEOPLE JUST BE PATIENT AND WAIT FOR THE EXAMS TO START! I'M EVERYONE WILL GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER _REAL_ WELL THERE!" she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Besides, we only have a little while before we all have to register so can we please be on our way." She heard the boy snort and she snapped. She just wanted to wipe that stupid condescending look off his face, so she made a move to punch him only to see that he was doing the same to her. Right when they were about to collide, the boy in spandex stopped their blows, his arm never wavering. Sakura tried to hide the way her eyes widened. That was a strong arm he had to block those like it was nothing.

His teammates started scolding him for showing off his abilities but he ignored them and made his way up to Sakura as he kneeled down and grabbed her hand. She was completely confused and a little creeped out by green, weird and bushy.

"Hello. My name is Rock Lee and I would be honored if a beauty such as you -" _Oh gosh I have no time for this. _She could already tell where this long rant was going, so trying to control her temper she gently pulled her hand away gave a strained smile that failed to hide her irritation. Right as he said, "it would be an honor if you would be my-"

"No." She cut him off and when she looked into his heart broken eyes she sighed and explained gently, "I'm just not into the whole dating thing you see-"

"Oh Cut the crap you feed everyone the same line." She turned around and saw the snide look on Sasuke's face. He'd been giving her that look ever since they had their run in with Gaara. "The truth is that you have a little crush on the Suna boy and are just embarrassed he doesn't even remember who you are." THAT pissed her off and even though she knew it wasn't true, she couldn't stop the redness that came to her face. She was embarrassed considering Gaara didn't remember her and she didn't need everyone thinking she was a lost puppy following after some guy. And where did this come from all of a sudden anyway? "That is what's been on your mind all this time right?"

"I do NOT like him like that!" She said glaring at him. "And you have no business knowing who or what it is I think about." She lifted her chin and straightened herself before walking over and rudely bumping his shoulder as she passed. "Lets just go already."

They didn't get very far before Sasuke was challenged by Rock Lee to fight. Sakura's eye twitched but decided to gauge this kids strength and at least watched. She was far more then impressed as she watched the fight go on, the Lee kid wasn't even visible he was moving so fast, and when he revealed it was only taijutsu she almost felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Here he was, kicking and punching Sasuke left and right, and it was only by use of Taijutsu.

She made a mental note to brush up on those skills more herself. During the middle of the fight, she noticed that even with the Sharingan, Sasuke couldn't win and Sakura could hardly see Lee anyway so she couldn't gather all that much about his skills besides the fact he was really strong and fast. Glancing at the clock she noted that registration was ending soon so she called out to Naruto and told him that she was going to go ahead for them so they didn't get left out and began heading towards the designated room.

She became even more irritated when she stood outside the door only to be met by Kakashi sensei who told her without Naruto or Sasuke, she could not formally register them. Thus she had to wait. As soon as they got there she glared at them, one minute later and they wouldn't have been able to sign up. Her gaze softened when she noticed Sasuke's bruised face, he had taken some rough hits and was probably pretty disappointed in himself, she didn't need to add anymore pressure.

When the two boys stopped in front of their sensei, Sakura pushed off from the wall to stand by them and they all listened to Kakashi repeat the same thing he had told her when she had arrived.

"Looks like you're all here and for the right reasons." His visible eye crinkled, the only sign that he was smiling as he said that he was proud of them. That made Sakura and Naruto smile while Sasuke just gave his Uchiha smirk. Kakashi then moved out of the way of the door and wished them luck as all three of them pushed their way through.

"What's this…" Naruto stuttered a bit as he looked at the room completely packed with ruff looking genin who were obviously much MUCH older then them. She had no idea _this _many people would be participating and she felt her stomach tighten. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to calm her nerve, when she opened her eyes again, they were narrowed in determination. _Don't let them psych you out. _She was hoping looking scary wasn't part of the exam cause she'd be kicked out right away…

"SASUKE!" Sakura looked over to see her male teammate being jumped by her best friend.

"Hey Ino pig. I'd appreciate if you didn't suffocate him considering I kind of need him." Sakura stated looking jokingly at her friend. She only noticed that the two of them, and Naruto, took her meaning differently when Ino glared at her and Sasuke and Naruto stared at her wide eyed. "_For the EXAM_." She clarified eye twitching for even having to tell them that. Ino perked up instantly and Naruto sighed in relief while Sasuke took a second to return to his stoic self.

Ino continued to compliment him before jumping off his back and walking over to hug her best friend. "Glad you made it to forehead. Wouldn't it be something if we have to face off?" They let go and Sakura stuck her tongue out at her.

"It'd be something but you know I wouldn't go easy on you." Ino looked confidently at Sakura.

"Well I've been improving too you know and I think I might be able to take you!" She said. Sakura wanted to encourage her friend but that was a bit of a cocky statement considering she was sure Ino wasn't at her level just yet. But she just smiled.

"I'd like to see what you've got."

That's when Ino's teammates came over, the one with his hair in a pineapple like pony tail commenting on how their presence made the exam lamer then it apparently already was. _Someone's in a bad mood…_ He and Naruto started going at is while Sakura just observed all that was happening.

The threatening other genin had stopped looking at them some time ago but it was obvious they were the subject of conversation when glances were thrown their way, followed by scoffs. They certainly weren't happy that kids as young as they were, were here.

Ino had returned to flirting with Sasuke, her arm draped around his shoulders, and Choji just stood there stuffing his mouth with chips. Sakura was surprised Shikamaru was still going at the argument with Naruto, considering how lazy he usually was. It was cut short when Kiba, Shino and Hinata came over. Sakura perked up and went over to hug her friend. And after which Hinata shyly greeted Naruto before blushing furiously.

The 9 began to talk about the exams and Sakura immediately noticed the males all seemed to be a bit over confident about all of this, especially Kiba who kept running his mouth about how fun it was going to be. She loved her friends dearly but she couldn't help but have her already edgy behavior move closer to the edge as they all kept talking.

That's when a silver haired man with a Konoha headband came over telling them to cool it down because they were rookies. Obviously Ino went into a hissy fit, but Sakura felt something off about this guy. He told them all to look around, and once again everyone was glaring at them, obviously someone *cough* Kiba *cough* was being a bit too loud.

He warned them about how everyone was edgy and told them this was his 7th year taking the exams. Suddenly it all seemed that much harder. He nervously rubbed the back of his head before showing them some chakra encoded cheat cards that had information hidden on them. Sakura paid close attention but he really didn't tell her anything she didn't already know, it was obvious the Chunin exams was a form of peace between nations as well as regulating the number of Shinobi in each village. She was about to space out – that is before Sasuke asked for information on Gaara. She perked up immediately and stepped forward trying to look at what would be shown. Sasuke's irritation didn't go unnoticed.

She was disappointed when Sasuke also asked about Lee which turned out to be the first card he showed. The only thing that she really cared about is that one of the questions that had been bugging her had been answered. She finally remembered who the three of them were. TenTen, the female, Neji, the kid she almost punched, and Lee were all people she briefly knew as a child. She only met them a few times and when they entered the academy she didn't see them anymore, that and she went through her whole episode after her parents' death. She smiled to herself relieved some of her irritation was gone, but not all of it. She clenched her hands closer to her chest waiting for the next card.

"There's not much about this guy besides the fact he's done 8 C rank missions and, get this, 1 B rank mission." He pushed his glasses up as the rest of them stared at the red question mark blinking in the pentagon where his stats should have been. "That's not all, he survived every mission without so much as a scratch on him." Sakura looked into Kabuto's eyes to see if he was telling the truth and she couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face. She felt proud of that information, and she remembered all the times he'd saved her, even against those Chunin men who attacked them in that alley. Remembering that, she wasn't to surprised he was unharmed on little C rank missions though the B rank did shock her a bit considering how difficult theirs had been.

Everyone else was far beyond shocked at it though. Kabuto put his cards back quickly and told them to look out for the intense competition before standing up to leave. Basically he had told them most of what she already knew, _we're rookies and these guys are bigger and more experienced then us. _She stared at the shaking form of Naruto in front of her and she knew he wasn't scared, no she KNEW what he was going to do, but before she could reach out and cover his mouth he pointed to the group of genin in front of them and proclaimed he was going to beat all of them. So she did what she always did and Hit him on the back of the head knocking him to the ground.

Scanning the angry eyes of the other genin she smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry you all, he's a bit well – slow." She said tilting her head to the side slighting and glancing warmly at all of them. She knew it didn't do much to calm them down, and she had nervous knots in her stomach the entire time, but it got a few of them to scoff and look away. She mentally scoffed herself, now she had to make sure her friend didn't get pummeled by any of these guys, and she was sure all of them would be gunning for him after that statement.

Still scanning the crowed her lips parted slightly and her eyes opened a bit wider as her emerald eyes came in contact with black lined, sea foam green ones. He stared back at her, his expression never changing and she gave a small smile to him before looking at the ground, her heart dropping again at seeing him. _Gosh I hope I don't have to fight him like this. _

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" The attention was turned away from the nine genin and over to the front of the room where white smoke was vanishing and a whole team of Chunin and a few Jounin stood in front of them all. The one in the middle had two scars on his face one from his right cheek down to his jaw line and the other was from his chin past his lip over his left cheek and then disappeared behind his forehead protector. He introduced himself as Ibiki Morino. "I'll be your proctor and from this point onward, your worst enemy." He glared down at all of the shocked genin in the room and told them they were not allowed to fight each other unless a proctor gave them permission to do so, threatening to disqualify them if they used fatal force or stood up against him. They were then told to give their paper work to him and get a number, that number would then determine where they sat and once that was all done they would begin the written portion of the exam.

Sakura sighed in relief, she _knew _that that would be easy at least, she hadn't expected to start the exam right away though. She stared at her two teammates as people began to go hand in their applications.

"Wait you guys." They paused and looked back at her. "I - I wanted to promise you that no matter what," She looked at them, determination laced with every word of her voice and cell in her body "I won't fail you guys." They smiled.

"I promise too!" Naruto said giving her a thumbs up.

"Tch. Yeah sure." Sasuke turned and kept walking. She just rolled her eyes. Same old Sasuke to the end it seems. She quickly followed behind them, eager to get the ball rolling.

Sakura ended up sandwiched between a bunch of strangers but she could see Naruto and Hinata just two rows down. She began to pray Naruto would pass by some miracle, if what Kakashi said was true and all three of them had to enter together, then she had the feeling that they had to participate together to. That meant he could NOT fail.

Ibiki then began to explain how it worked: that they all started with a perfect score of 10 points and that one point was deducted for each question they got wrong. He then confirmed her fears by telling them teams passed or failed based on the scores of the team as a whole. And lastly He told them that if they were caught cheating, two points would be subtracted from their score and if spotted five times the person would be kicked out.

"One more thing. If any candidate gets a zero and fails then the whole team fails." Sakura's hopes went with the wind at hearing that, there was no way Naruto would pass. "The final question won't be given until the last 15 minutes. You have one hour. BEGIN"

Immediately pencils were on paper, Sakura didn't focus on Naruto as she began to fill out her sheet. It was harder then she thought, they were complex questions based on principles of uncertainty and required mechanical energy. In other words they were advanced. Still she decided not to worry about her blonde teammate until she finished filling out her sheet, after which she observed Naruto, praying he got at least one of them right. Then she put her eyes back to her paper, she didn't want them to THINK she was cheating.

She doubted that more then a handful of people even understood what they were reading besides her, and she knew for a fact Naruto would know none of it Heck Sasuke probably knew none of it. Their only chance was cheating. With that, she understood the test. They _wanted _them to cheat and to _not _get caught, to test their knowledge gathering skills. That's why they gave 5 chances. That also meant that they had people with the right answers placed throughout the room for the purpose of cheating off of them. Clever. Very clever.

Only about 15 minutes in the first person was kicked out along with his team. From then two other were weeded out about two seconds later along with their teams as well. This was getting serious quickly. How many would be left after this was over?

All of a sudden she felt a strange cold sensation rack through her body and she instantly knew Ino had taken over – she had offered to be a test dummy when her best friend first came up with the jutsu a few days before they passed the academy. She only ever got it right once but the feeling of your body taken over by another person's soul was unmistakable. She must have mastered it, but right now there wasn't anything Sakura could do about it, besides, she kind of wanted her friend to pass so it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, although she cursed herself for not noticing it sooner.

It took awhile but Ino eventually left her body and not long after that the last 15 minutes was upon them. The tenth question was given out to the people who chose to take it or not. If you didn't take it you got kicked out, but if you got the question wrong then you could never take the Chunin exam ever again. The choice was almost impossible to make.

Many members of teams stood up to leave only a select few, including the 9 rookies and Gaara's team, there were 66 other people. No one else made a move to raise their hand for a while but she could see Naruto shaking so she didn't the closest thing she could to hitting him on the head - she threw a pencil at him. A loud TUNK noise was heart as it made contacted and then clattered on the ground. It was the only noise in the dead silent room.

She felt all eyes on her and saw Naruto turn around and look at her, his own eyes slightly widened. She gave a little smirk of her own and slowly raised her arm, giving him a thumbs up.

**(1)** "Don't forget." She grinned. "You made a promise remember? And when a ninja makes a promise, they keep that promise." She said, loud enough for him to hear and thus naturally the entire room did as well. She stuck her tongue out at her teammate trying to ignore all of the eyes on her. She wasn't as good as handling attention as Naruto was. "That being said, I want you to do what you believe in, either way we won't blame you so don't stress." She put her hand gently back on the table and sat back in her chair trying to look cool as she calmly closed her eyes and tilted her head down when in actuality she was freaking out inside. _STOP STARING AT ME STOP STARING AT ME! DARN I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE THAT WHAT WAS I THINKING! IT PROBABY ONLY MADE THE SITUATION WORSE ON NARUTO UUUUGGGHHH! NOW ITS LIKE I'M PRESSURING HIM TO NOT QUIT! AND HOW DO I KNOW IF HE WAS GOING TO QUIT IN THE FIRST PLACE I'M BEING A COMPLETE IDIIIIIIIOOOOTTT! OH NO! I TOOK HIS PLACE AS IDIOT TO! WHAT IS THIS REPLACE NARUTO DAY OR SOMETHING?_

Her mental rampage continued until she heard Ibiki speak again.

"There's only one thing left to do. And that's to tell you that you all passed the last exam!" He went on to chuckle and explain the whole reason for the nine questions and that the tenth question never truly did exists – at least not in written form –and that the choice to stay was the correct answer.

Sakura sighed in relief and smiled at Naruto as he glanced back at her and gave her a thumbs up. She nodded in turn before they all paid attention to the front again as Ibiki took off his head-band–hat-thing and revealed the mangled forest of scars on his entire head. It was surely grotesque, but it got the point of cross: Information was important and your life could be risked to get it. "Not all information from the enemy is correct though and misinformation is worse then none at all." The girl, Temari she remember it was, asked again about the tenth question. "Chunin squad leaders can not falter in the face of adversity and choose the safe route. Those who put the comrades lives in jeopardy for the sake of their own will never be Chunin. You on the other hand have earned the right to move on. This part is now complete. Good luck."

"THANK GOD! ITS OVER! I THOUGHT THAT WOULD NEVER END!" Naruto stood up and began cheering all alone. Sakura sweat dropped, seemed both her teammates never changed. Of course he sat back down fast as the speed of light when the window exploded and a sign about ten by ten feet was nailed in place by four kunai. A woman, who had been the one to burst through the window and nail the sign in place, stood straight in front of the sign, introduced herself as Anko and excitedly told them to follow her for the next part of the test. She was then informed she was Early so she told them to meet her tomorrow instead and that they'd be told where to go by their teachers.

Oh joy.

* * *

They gathered that morning outside of a gate. The 44th Battle training Zone. The tree trunks where huge, each around the size of a large house, all the roots intermingled with each other. It was dark and the vibe it gave off was so intense. It was no surprise it was called the forest of Death. A huge Centipede crawled up a visible side of a tree, it looked larger then a snake. At least that was until one of the snakes did show up and its head was the size and thickness of one of the gigantic tree branches. She was starting to think people just dumped a bunch of toxic waste and decided to just watch and see what happened.

FUN. Yeah… note the sarcasm.

Naruto of course was trying to act cool and mocked the proctor which caused her to throw a kunai and cut his cheek, appearing behind him and whispering threatening words. This would all be insignificant, if it weren't for the long haired grass ninja that appeared behind Anko shortly after, with a long tongue extended from her mouth, holding the kunai in its coils.

Her appearance gave Sakura the shivers. The face, the hair, the voice it all just seemed so unnatural and eerie. The way her tongue retracted back into her mouth was just disgusting. She was glad when the grass ninja stepped away and Anko returned to her position in front of the group telling them all about what would happen next. She had all of them sign a consent form so she wouldn't be held accountable if they died. It would test all of their survival skills and hence was called the survival test. It was an anything goes battle, a fight over heaven and earth scrolls. Once receiving the two they were told to meet at the center of the forest at the locked tower. Only one kind of scroll was given to each team. To make it harder, it had to be done in five days and you weren't aware which teams had which scrolls or which member carried the scroll. If one member died or was incapacitated, the team failed. If you read a scroll, you failed.

Oh the dangers oh the joy. Half the teams wouldn't pass for sure and everyone would have to be on constant watch.

OH FUN!

* * *

They were in the middle of a small clearing, large trees surrounding them on all sides. It was obvious that they would be targeted by other teams first because they were thought to be easy prey, that much Sakura was sure of. Naruto's little declaration of war didn't help them either.

They took a small break in this clearing to try and plan a strategy. Of course Naruto had to go to the bathroom so he went to a private area after Sakura had demanded he do so.

The person who came back wasn't him that's for sure, the cut on his face was gone and the shuriken holster was on the wrong leg. In addition the imposter was left-handed. They both knew immediately, and while Sasuke attacked the imposter, Sakura went to go find the real Naruto. She dashed to the area he had disappeared minutes before and spread out her chakra, trying to find his own signature. It didn't take long because he wasn't far off. She turned right and jumped over one of the large roots landing right by a loud mouthed shouting Naruto. He was wrapped up in ropes and wiggling around, Sakura was surprised no one was guarding him. She easily cut through the rope that bound him and they stood.

They didn't even need to join Sasuke cause he brought the battle to them. It was easy to take care of the enemy by getting him tripped up, all of them attacking at once. When he was distracted Sakura appeared behind him and kicked him downward, where Sasuke was leaping towards him into the air. The momentum of the kick made it to hard to dodge the kunai Sasuke thrust forward into the man's stomach. Impaled and bleeding, the mist nin took of running. Apparently he was alone.

From then on they had a password: When does a ninja strike? A ninja waits until it is night and the enemy drops his guard. That is the moment for a ninja to strike.

It was obvious the real Naruto wouldn't remember it.

* * *

The password came in handy way quicker then expected. The attack came from nowhere and left a gapping trench that stretched for about a mile. It separated the three but they quickly found each other – well Sasuke and Sakura found each other and another Naruto impersonator.

Fake Naruto got that password word for word.

Both of them threw a kunai at him, and he transformed into the grass shinobi from outside the forest, her tongue flicking out to lick around her entire mouth and then the tip coming to lick her hat as she took it off.

Sakura figured she should stay for this, even if Sasuke could handle himself, this person seemed tricky, and they had an earth scroll. Which the creepy lady promptly swallowed whole. Sakura shuddered.

Looking right into the eyes of the enemy the two fell to the ground by the threat of her pure blood lust. Sakura's body shook and Sasuke threw up. She closed her eyes, and tried to stand on shaky legs only fall back down again, staying here wouldn't get them to safety. She attempted the feat again but her movements were shaky and she wobbled, it felt like the most intense physical training she had ever gone through. She didn't know how she did it. Zabuza seemed like a preschooler to this lady, and she hadn't even done anything yet! Sakura noticed movement from the corner of her eye as Sasuke stood up, reaching for a kunai and taking it out.

"Oh, so you _both _can move. That _is _surprising. No matter, I expected more from Sasuke." The enemy stepped forward and through two kunai at them. They were numb, how could they possibly move? Sakura looked at the women, and did the only think she thought could possibly piss her off enough to ignore her fear. She pictured the Shuriken aimed for her parents and she was ticked off so immensely she was able to block the kunai that had been headed her way. She wanted to charge forward and kill the lady, just imagining her as her parents killer was bringing back all of the hatred she felt for 4 years after her parents death. She looked at Sasuke, who had stabbed his leg so the pain would shake him out of his fear, thus allowing him to dodge the Kunai that had been headed towards him. _No, she's not the real killer_, She had to remind her self. She held her glance at her comrade, _but she was threatening my teammate and friend_. That thought was enough to make her move _and_ stay in her right mind. Sasuke leapt into the trees, Sakura quick on his heals.

They didn't even rest for five seconds before a snake came out of no where and began attacking Sasuke. He cut its mouth open with some shuriken and that seemed to kill the great beast, but from its belly the grass women emerged, covered in sticky wet saliva. Tongue rolling around, her movements fluid like a snake as she crawled up the tree before a barrage of shuriken and kunai right above her head made her stop.

"Sorry I'm late."

"NARUTO!" Sakura smiled widely as she looked widely to the direction of the Attack. Her idiot blonde teammate was grinning as usually, arms crossed. "I've never been so happy to hear you're obnoxious voice." She said jokingly. Somehow, with him here and knowing he was safe and unafraid, it made her calm and at peace. Sasuke was still freaking out a little, but if she was doing that too then there was no way they would even beat this lady.

"Aw Shucks don't flatter me Sakura!" Naruto responded from his spot.

She made hand signs as quickly and silently as possible, creating a clone and then a second later substituting herself for a rock resting on a large tree branch a little ways up from their current position. She made two more clones to surround the area. She grabbed a shuriken and waited. Waited for the next move this disgusting snake lady would make.

"What was the password again?" Naruto asked from his spot and Sakura rolled her eyes. Even in the heat of a life or death battle he was making jokes – granted she had made one just a few seconds ago too. She found it oddly comforting and refreshing and was very grateful he was here. However, she was also on alert, having him here meant he was also in danger, and she didn't want another of her friends getting hurt by this monster! Okay… well Sasuke's wound was self inflicted but it was still because of the freaky lady!

"LEAVE NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke." Sakura's voice came from her clone. "You have to calm down if you keep choking we won't get out of this" The real Sakura stole a glance at Naruto. "And we WILL get out of this." The demon lady laughed at that.

"You're all fools to think you'd leave here alive." The enemy grinned wickedly and began performing hand signs. Sakura didn't want to know what that would make, and had her two clones in the trees as well as herself throw kunai and shuriken. A paper bomb was attacked to one of each in the bundles, but the enemy saw them coming and tried dodging. Her clone on the lower branches threw another paper bomb kunai in front of where the lady was jumping out of the way and when the grass lady did jump, she was caught in between the explosions her left side getting slightly singed. Enough to be painful, but it seemed like it didn't do all that much.

But it did make time. Sakura's clone charged forward a chakra infused kick aiming downward towards the ladies head, she dodged and Naruto tried to deliver a kick from the other side but she dodged again.

Sasuke was still just standing there, doing nothing.

"COME ON SNAP OUT OF IT!" Naruto called.

The grass lady sent a fire jutsu at the two causing them to back off and the momentum caused Sakura's clone to crash through a tree branch and disappear. Naruto on the other hand crashed through the tree branch he hit, the blow looked hard and if it was anyone other then Naruto they probably would have been out cold. While the Jutsu was still in play the second of Sakura's clones came down with another kick while she and her third clone sent paper bomb laden kunai and shuriken towards the enemies escape ways. The kick nicked the snake like lady but the impact of it still sent her shooting towards the ground.

The paper bombs detonated in a chain reaction and sped up the enemies free fall, however, it also took out Sakura's second clone, meaning she only had one left.

"So that's where you are." Sakura's eyes widened. _Crap I forgot to move my real body! And I've sent attacks at her twice! She didn't notice my location the first time because she was caught off guard but it was easier then easy to know this time around! DARN IT! _

Without hesitation the enemy sent kunai towards the shocked Sakura and her clone. The clone was destroyed, but Naruto was able to get the real her out of the way just in time. The Kunai scratched his clothing.

"COME ON DO SOMETHING SASUKE!" Naruto called out. As he and Sakura landed on a tree branch level to Sasuke's and their enemy. "QUIT BEING A COWARD! ISN'T THE UCHIHA SUPPOSE TO BE ALL GREAT AND NOT RUN AWAY!"

She didn't know what happened in Sasuke's head, but he was in battle instantly going on in an onslaught of attacks. Sakura had no idea what was happening, the grass lady was moving to fast and using her eye jutsu took up far to much chakra with the sloppy way it was now, so she settled for the blurs that appeared every now and then here and there.

With her going at that spread, there was nothing Sakura and Naruto could do but leave it to Sasuke and watch. They could only wait for a moment to strike. It was obvious Sasuke was the target and as much as both of them wanted to protect him, there was nothing they could do.

It was going fine at first until she substituted herself and attacked Sasuke with a barrage of punches. She stood above his body that was now lying on a branch, and Sakura decided she should try out a new technique right about now. She made her hand signs similar to that for a wind prison and made several tiny flat whirlwind blades of wind. She then used an earth manipulation technique to let little yet sharp pebbles intertwine themselves with the wind and just like she would a shuriken or kunai, she sent them at the enemy. "Mini whirlwind Shuriken."

**(2)**But these little weapons worked a bit differently, she had full control over where they went and how fast they went. The grass ninja wasn't expecting this and even when leaping out of the way her left leg had two deep gauges in it and her side took a good blow. Sakura then had her wind weapons round back on the enemy again and was able to get a small nick in her right arm before she couldn't hold the jutsu any longer. The distance was to great and it was another one of her unperfected jutsu, it was using too much chakra and she needed to save as much as possible. She cursed as the enemy body melted into mud. She just wasted chakra on a substitution! The women's real body morphed out of the bottom of the tree branch Sasuke still lay on.

"You have been quite the surprise you little girl. You want to die fir-UH" She didn't finish her words as strings coming from Sasuke's now standing form attached her to the tree's base. He then jumped back to get distance and performed the Dragon Flame jutsu, smoking the entire tree. At least, the entire tree above the enemies head. Sakura rushed down to her companion.

"Sasuke! That was great, but now's the time to escape before she gets back up again!" She called running down with Naruto hot on her heals. Sasuke was panting when she made it to his side, and she was worse for ware herself even worse off then him. Their heads turned when they heard the strings snap like they were being plucked apart.

"Mastery of the sharingan already? You really are an Uchiha." The woman's voice was morphing into that of a man's. A slithery sleazy man voice at that, it was more like the eerie hiss of a snake then a voice at all. Sakura fell again when she looked into the eyes of this mysterious person. It was yellow and the pupil was a slit, like that of a cat, but even more so like a snake. The skin seemed to be peeling off and under it was the palest flesh she ever saw….it was like he was a wearing a human mask. "You'll do nicely." Sasuke grunted as he fought falling to the ground.

"WHO ARE YOU!" Naruto called out.

This 'man' who called himself Orochimaru, said they would see each other again when they passed the test and defeated his sound ninja. He was talking directly to Sasuke when he said it all. His neck extended from his body and shot towards the Uchiha of the group, his teeth clamping into Sasuke's neck before slithering back in like a slinky. Sasuke gripped his neck, shoulders clenching up in pain as he fell to his knees trying to hold it in. 'Orochimaru' then turned his attention to Sakura.

**(3**)"You seem to have quite a bit of promise too – Certainly someone to keep an eye on. We'll see." With that the man disappeared. Sasuke screamed, his body shaking as he feel into Sakura. Naruto tried to help him from the other side, but soon Sasuke passed out from pain. The two just stood there, not knowing what to do now.

They found a place in the trunk of a tree to rest, she and Naruto took turns keeping watch while taking care of Sasuke, and sleeping. She didn't know if he knew, but she could sense them in the trees. There were three people there, two men and one woman. Sakura assumed they were the sound ninja Orichimaru spoke of and she didn't know why they didn't attack but she knew in her condition as well as Naruto's (He'd told her about his little adventure inside the belly of a snake when they had been separated) they didn't stand a chance against the three ninja in the trees above them.

The rest was needed and well appreciated.

After all, it was another battle to the death tomorrow.

* * *

Sakura was on watch when morning came and a squirrel with a paper bomb attached to it came dashing out of the bushes. Emotionlessly, she flung her kunai at it and it scurried away. She hadn't slept well last night, every time she did sleep she had nightmares about Sasuke and Naruto and all her other friends dying by the hands of that snake. She also had nightmares of her parent's deaths again, even more grotesque images then what she'd seen as a child. Made sense considering the grotesque things she's been seeing outside of her dreams lately. She didn't mind that Naruto slept longer, his time in the snakes belly took more out of him then he thought and the digestive acids had eaten away at his skin, for some reason he had chakra that healed it but it meant he was weaker. So she just kept watch most of the night. From this she did a lot of thinking, and came to the decision that she would handle these people just how she would have if she hadn't regained her humanity the night she saved Ino and Hinata. **(4)**If that was the only thing she could do right now to protect her beloved ones, then so be it. Even if it meant returning to that dark and lonely place, for them she would do it.

"So you finally decided to show yourselves?" She said, voice hollow. She didn't lift her eyes from the kunai she was twirling in her fingers. "It must have been tiring standing in the tree all night."

"Back off girly, wake up Sasuke, he's the one we want to fight." The man who resembled a hunch back mummy laughed.

"You want to fight Sasuke?" She stopped twirling her kunai and tossed it at them, it hit the tree by the only female's ear. She stiffened but didn't move, all three of them kept their eyes trained on Sakura. Sakura glanced at her companion, he's breathing was labored and he still had a fever. "Oh what's that Sasuke? You don't want to fight? I'm so sorry." She said turning her head back to them and lifting her eyes to see them, her dead, emotionless eyes. "I'm afraid he's not available right now can I take a message?" With that sentence the hiss of the paper bomb she had attached to her kunai sounded and it exploded. The three barely got away in time. They had had their eyes to trained on her to notice it and thought her two weak to fight back like that.

Sakura couldn't do much fighting, that much they were right about. Her chakra was very low considering she didn't get any sleep and she had used that new jutsu along with clones. The paper bombs all took up a little amount of chakra each time too. Not to mention the impact just looking into Orochimaru's eyes had. It was physically painful. Lastly even in the five days before the exams she hadn't done much chakra storage so it was still pretty low, she didn't want to have to break into those reserves. She only would do so if she must, but for now it would mainly be a taijutsu battle for her.

"Okay then! First I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to kill Sasuke." The ninja with spiky black hair and camouflage pants voiced his cocky opinion. The one with bandages on his face and a strange machine on his arm told them they could charge and they all leapt. Sakura cut through a string my her side and a large log started to fall on top of them. But the man with the mummy man simply pressed his hand to it and exploded it into little splinters.

They charged for her but she matched them move for move making sure to stay out of the grasp of the bandaged headed man. It was tricky, this three on one battle wasn't easy and it wasn't like when she would fight her clones. In fact all of her hits were getting dodged. The man with the spiky hair and cocky attitude missed his punch but all of a sudden a few moments later Sakura' s body lurched over in pain and she coughed blood. Ignoring it she moved out of the way as the dark haired women aimed a kick towards her. However she couldn't get out of the way quick enough when the women tossed a senbon and it sliced deeply into her arm. She didn't have time for injuries so she used a replacement jutsu a fraction of a second before it made contact with her skin. She through shuriken and kunai from her new spot. They quickly moved out of the way, none of her attacks hit but that was okay because the man with the spiky hair stepped into the trap she had set on the ground, 5 shuriken being sent towards him from above as he tripped a wire and striking him in the arm before one sliced into his leg, imbedding itself deeply within the flesh and muscle. Sakura coughed up more blood. Her body wasn't holding out to well right now at any moment she could collapse. It felt like her insides were exploding and becoming mush, no matter how much she tried to ignore the pain it just kept coming back.

She landed in front of her friends again and that's when Naruto woke up, rubbing his eyes and taking in the state of Sakura. But the mummy man held up his machine arm and all of a sunned Sakura and Naruto had to cup their ears. IT felt like they wree exploding, ringing and stinging in a painful way, like they were going to implode. She felt the warm blood trickle down her ear and her vision was becoming wobbly. She felt like puking even more now and there was no way she could hold up. Luckily Naruto wasn't knocked out, though he wasn't in much better condition. He stood up and came to Sakura's side unsteadily.

"Sakura! What's going on what happening?" Sakura thanked God when the man stopped his attack. She didn't look at Naruto, she didn't want him to see her like this.

"Naruto." He voice still hallow but seemed gentle and melodic even if it was in an eerie way. "Take Sasuke and go as far away from here as you can. I'll catch up don't worry." He stared at her for a while, his eyes wide at the sound of her voice.

"NO WAY SAKURA! I'M NOT LEAVING YOU FIGHT THESE THREE!" HE shouted.

"Naruto." She said turning her eyes to look at him, eyes that made him take a step back. "They're after him anyway, chances are they'll just follow you and leave only one to deal with me. I can handle that and then I'll go to help you." Her eyes seemed to be staring right into his soul. "Go Naruto. Go Now." He paused for the longest time and without moving her eyes from his, Sakura blocked all of the senbon she heard coming wizzing them. He seemed shocked, for this was not the Sakura he knew – this was some kind of dead machine. "What are you waiting for." He didn't pause again as he grabbed Sasuke and ran. Two people tried to follow just as she suspected but she simply held up two fingers and sent her chakra into the paper bombs she had attached to four trees behind them early the night before. The explosion was a big eruption and because of the amount of paper bombs, it took out A LOT of her chakra. She had hundreds of them pasted on the large four trees after all. She was happy it gave the desired result. collapsing them and blocking off the area where Naruto and Sasuke went. The only way to the other side was climbing through a lot of rubble, almost like a small mountain, or going around it.

She was able to hold them off a little while without using her Chakra, just standing on a high point of the tree rubble, and throwing paper bombs where they needed to be. But two split up in different directions, each trying to run around different sides of the tree while the female charged straight towards her to attack. She could only pick one of the men to stop, so she chose mr. Spiky hair She created a few earth clones to deal with the lady for now. Pumping chakra into her legs to speed her up so she could get to the man. Her Chakra was depleting fast, and her insides still weren't doing well from the last time this guy tried to land a hit on her. Even when he missed he somehow infected internal damage.

She delivered a kick to his unsuspecting side, feeling the cracking of his ribs and watched as blood spat out of his mouth. Working while her weakened body still would hold her, she punched his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and then pushed a pressure point on his neck to knock him out. One down.

* * *

Naruto heard the explosion and turned his head to see the trees collapse. He got one last glimpse of pink before it was completely covered up.

"SAKURA!" Naruto called out. But it was no use, his voice couldn't reach over the sound of the large branches and other falling debris. He cursed, pausing and contemplating what to do. He then realized there wasn't much he _could _do right now, and Sakura had cut off his entry point to her battle. He just readjusted Sasuke and continued moving on, praying that Sakura would make it back alive.

It didn't take long for the mummy man to catch up to them and he used his control over sound vibrations to make Naruto stop in his tracks, falling to his knees and holding his ears. How was he suppose to fight like this.

_No! Sakura needs me to fight and win! _He gritted his teeth and turned slowly, but it was as fast as his body was letting him move, to face the enemy. _And I'm not gonna let Sasuke show me up again! _

Naruto Charged into a battle of his own, feeling a new chakra that he could only describe as red begin to surround him. He had unbelievable speed and landed multiple powerful hits on the mummy. He was getting in blow after blow, kicking him in the air then appearing behind him and punching him back towards the hard ground. It seemed like he was going to win, that was before the enemy intensified his sound attack causing Naruto to collapse again. Even with this new strength the intensity of this sound wasn't helping. The hits he scored took its toll on the mummy man seeing as he was bleeding and had blood dripping from his mouth. Naruto tried to stand again and another surge of red Chakra came to him, allowing him to charge forward with a fist raised. He made it to his target even sooner when the enemy was all of a sudden thrust towards him. He got his punch in, sending the mummy man crashing into a tree before a kunai pinned him there by his clothes. Naruto then turned to see the person who had thrown the kunai only to see that Sasuke was up.

Sasuke had visible purple chakra swirling around him and a lava colored pattern was inching its way up his body before solidifying into black marks, almost like tattoos. This chakra was thick and powerful it felt almost - evil.

Naruto figured Sasuke must have sent the enemy towards him when Naruto delivered that punch.

Sasuke was going to make a move again, grinning wickedly at the sound nin pinned to the tree. Even as the man begged his life be spared, that he had underestimated Sasuke and was sorry. He even tossed his earth scroll at them. Sasuke just chuckled, stopping only to retrieve the scroll and put it away before he continued to move forward, twirling a kunai in his hand about to decapitate the enemy.

Naruto, who was now losing the red chakra, stared in shock. What was happening to his teammates? First Sakura and now Sasuke was bat crap crazy too! WHAT THE HECK!

"HEY! That's enough Sasuke you can stop now I think he gave up!" Naruto shouted. Sasuke spared him a glance but continued his advances. "Hey stop it Sasuke!"

His teammate didn't listen to him as he pressed the kunai against the mummy mans neck. So the enemy sighed. "Fine I guess it's a life for a life."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke question pressing the kunai deeper in eyes narrowing. "You're the only one here and there's no way you're about to beat us."

The man chuckled. "Have you not noticed since you've been up? Your little female friend stayed back to fight two others and right now her chakra is at its limit. She'll be dead in seconds."

Naruto eye's widened and Sasuke stopped digging the kunai into the mans neck. They both stretched out their chakra, searching for Sakura's. They found it.

Right as it trickled away.

* * *

She had just put down the spiky haired man and heard the whistling of senbon behind her. She had to use a substitute to dodge the attack.

She stood a little ways away from the fast approaching woman, all Sakura's clones gone. She was getting ready to perform another clone jutsu when she noticed something. Yes the earth was spinning and shaking, lights flashing everywhere. She couldn't feel anything anymore and her body was moving so sluggishly. No… it wasn't just her EVERYTHING was slow. She checked her chakra and mentally swore when she noticed that there wasn't even enough left to keep her standing, if she didn't get rest RIGHT now, she was going to die. She felt her body rocking back and forth unsteadily as her muscles could no longer stand.

_I can still do it_. She thought, bringing her hands to form a sign that took what felt like an hour. The woman still hadn't reached her. _Just one more Jutsu… I can make it. Even not at full power it should hold her off long enough. Naruto can handle the man and when he's finished with him he and Sasuke can get away and be safe. Yes. They'll be safe. _She formed another and another.

She felt the wind begin to spin in a single small disc

She felt the last trickle of chakra begin to spread its way into the wind

She felt her life drain from her body in her last pathetic attempt to save her family

And Finally, She felt the tear fall down her face and her numb lips mouth her apology.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I don't think I'll be Catching up."

* * *

**Okay originally I intended to finish the forest of death and actually finish the preliminaries but I just though this was a great place to stop. So I'm stopping here. However, this also means my last chapter preview was misleading so I'm sorry about that. Gomen. **

**(1) I know that I basically had Sakura steal some of Naruto's bits but she kinda is the second main character in this fanficiton so you know…. Trying to make it about her.**

**(2) I think I might have made her a little bit TO good but oh well. **

**(3) And Yeah because she is well trained, Orochimaru sees a promise in her but he really only cares about Sasuke atm. **

**(4) Well we see Sakura's dark side come out a little bit but this time its so she can be numb through pain and protect her comrades.**

**Next time On an all new what Fate Brings Forward! (Que Naruto music)**

_Gaara to the rescue! _

_Alright! On our way to the preliminaries. _

_You're Not the person I knew. _

**All will be revealed in the next chapter:** Chunin exam arc: part II


	9. The Chunin Exam Arc: Part II

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update I've been super busy with school work and whenever I got a break – I was sleeping. Good news is I got 100% on my math test I had been spazzing out about and I got 110% on an assignment for my drawing class (I drew the Naruto hand signs Rat and bird with a rat and bird going to attack each other, looks pretty cool if I do say so myself and I usually do nothing but criticize my works. I'll upload it to my deviantart account once I actually get it back from my teacher which could be a very very long time.)**

**Time to respond to some Reveiws! YEAAHAHAHAAHAHAHH**

_Sakuramcgarden__ says: I can tell you one thing this is better than the original naruto seris I can tell you that so I hope you update soon_

I Have to say I was super flattered when I read that. Although I personally don't think I could really compare to the original story it warms my heart to think you do. Thank you so much!

_**lalamnmgirl **__says: this came out perfectly if she was any less experienced then it would have made a turn for the worst, also one question, did sakura ever cut her hair?_

Thank you very much for that! And I agree, I think had it been different it wouldn't have worked out the way it did, although there are still a few holes from last chapter and I'm not good at writing fight scenes I am glad you enjoyed it and took the time ot leave such a wonderful review! And to answer your question, no up to this point her hair has not been cut, I'm still debating whether I want her to cut it or not. In the anime it was more of a step for her to become stronger, it had symbolic meaning to it while in my story such a situation has yet to present itself for an actually meaningful reason for her to cut her hair to occur. I might throw something in the next chapter during her fight with Neji, or perhaps wait until a latter chapter if I can't squeeze it in there. Do you want her hair cut?

_**Angela1nwonderland **__says: My first ever review goes to you ;3 please keep up the good work _

_I love your work its so interesting and fun_

_I'd say just don't make it boring by writing it out so its just like the anime/manga because we already know what going to happen. _

_But other then that I'm in love with it ... One of my "friends" kinda got angry at me because I posted on my stautus so many times, things I liked about your fanfiction omg I was just like 'I don't give a shit xD'. _

_Again keep up the good work ;3_

I feel extremely honored to have been your first review thank you so much for taking the time to write this and for having me be your first review! (Felt so giddy I began to jump around the room for about five minutes when reading that.) And I know what you mean, and this chapter does have some anime stuff in it but I'm trying to cut back on hanging so closing to the original and branching off into my story – like how it started out before the time skip. I'm happy to say that after this chapter (and a teeny bit of the battles in the next chapter) I shall no longer rewrite the things you've seen/read. :D Thank you again for this amazing comment I feel, again, extremely honored that you find this story to be so good.

I'll do my best.

_**Gintawolf **__says: Hey! This is an awesome story! I'm really liking the characterizations. I can't wait for the next chapter! (BTW when will Gaara acknowledge Sakura as his old friend? Will they start their friendship again by the end of the Chunin Exam Arc? I'm excited to find out!)_

Thank you very much! I hope I'm sticking to my characterizations of them well enough. Gaara is a bit difficult for me because I find it hard to portray his conflicting emotions without making someone say "Wth he thought this and now he thinks this? This is to confusing I'm done reading" I hope I've done well enough at it but I suppose that's up to you readers to decide. And hopefully you're question is answered in this chapter although in his current state his idea of her as his friend is a dangerous border between 'I won't let anyone take you away' and 'if you hurt me emotionally by choosing someone else over me I'll kill you' in other words he's at this point kind of possessive. He's insecure about what she is going to do and doesn't want her to leave or be taken away so his emotions are on edge. Hopefully I didn't just give to much of this chapter away in that explanation.

_Thanks and love to my other reviewers: __**PervertAnimeOtaku**__, Darkkami, __**moodymel**__, __**dragonfly91**__, __**MsWildfire97**__, __**heartlessyukiXD**__, __**hateme101**__, __**Mikume-chan**__, Nami Corso, __**Hopelessyhope**_**, **_**Dina Sana**__, __**southpearl**__, reviewer girl, guests', no names'_

**The ones not bolded are those without accounts.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Chunin Exam Arc: Part II**

Gaara was just walking, there wasn't any real need to run right now, his _brother _and _sister _trailing behind him. They had yet to run into any people, and he could feel his inner demons thirst for blood growing stronger by the second. It had been such a long time since the blood feed his sand and it was getting impatient.

He stopped as a squirrel darted out of the bushes on his left, his siblings following suit. There was nothing really significant about it, but its blood might do to satisfy him for a little while. His cork popped open slightly, just enough for a little sand to trickle out and make its way to the small frightened creature. He was about to warp it into a coffin of sand when it all of a sudden started on fire.

"Paper bomb." Temari commented from behind him. "Looks like he was coming from the east, wonder if the person who set this up is still over there. They might have scroll" It sounded like she was talking to herself, but Gaara found himself thinking the same thing. It was only a bonus that if there WERE people over there he'd get the satisfaction he was beginning to crave right now. His sand turned away from the squirrel and went back into the large gourd, the cork sliding tightly back into its place.

"What do you think Gaara? Should we go check it out?" Kankuro asked checking for permission to head that way. Gaara glanced in the direction of his siblings, eyes narrowed as he saw the slight sweat that adorned their faces. Even if they had become masters of keeping their nervous facial expressions in check when he looked at them, they still gave off the small signs of fear. He turned his gaze back the way the squirrel came from, extending his chakra to check and see how many people were over there. He felt three in the general direction and three more a few miles off, it seemed two were passed out, one on each end, and the other two were fighting. It would suffice.

For his answer he simply turned his body to head east, leaping onto a tree limb. He stood there waiting for his siblings to follow, and after a few seconds he decided they thought it was needed that he speak. "Come on, you want to see if they have the scroll we need don't you?"

"Right." Temari was the one to respond leaping on to the tree limb with him and Kankuro was less then a beat behind her. When he saw his siblings were going to follow he took off through the trees, moving fast so that his prey wouldn't have a chance to get away. He kept his chakra extended so that he would know if they moved and it seemed that as he got close, the chakra signatures were becoming more and more familiar. One of the ones straight ahead was very small and rapidly depleting so he had trouble getting a pin on who it was. But another one of them -one a few miles away from the first – one that was starting to wake up – yes, that was Sasuke Uchiha. His eyes widened in excitement at the thought of the blood he could shed and a wicked grin spread out on his face. Oh _that _would certainly be fun. He also recognized that the signature of the blonde haired boy that had been on the same team as the Uchiha and Sakura was fighting on the same side as the half-conscious Uchiha.

His face returned back to normal, his eyes narrowing and his pace slowing as a realization dawned upon him.

"What's wrong Gaara?" Temari asked, slowing her pace to match his. Of course he didn't respond, he was to busy thinking.

If Sakura's two teammates were fighting an unknown enemy a ways off, that meant she had to be around there somewhere. His eyes widened again – this time in realization and a slight and unwanted panic. He sped up even faster then before, not caring when his siblings were getting left behind, both of them shouting after him all the way.

He sensed it now, he recognized the other signature, one that was weakening and almost vanishing entirely, it was like a dimmed light surrounded by darkness, but he recognized it none the less. It was _Sakura. _And it seemed like she was in trouble. _Her stupid teammates left her to fight two enemies alone? _He couldn't help the mental hiss that entered his mind. He couldn't' help the way he ran as fast as he ever thought he possibly could and he couldn't help the way his heart began to twist up more and more as Sakura's chakra began do dwindle into nearly nothing. He hated how just being able to sense her was bringing back so many unwanted emotions. He thought his heart would explode from it all as he crashed through the trees into another clearing, jumping to the ground, his sand snapping out of its case as it whipped out to smack the enemy ninja harshly to the right.

He heard a screech and a satisfying crack of bones as the woman's body was sent flying through one of the thick trees and out the other side, until finally crashing into the tree behind it as she fell unconscious, some of her blood pouring from her mouth or open cuts that the sand he had around her happily soaked up. However he was paying more attention to the wobbling Kunochi in front of him. And what was the first thing he did – yell at her of course.

"WHAT were you THINKING! Why don't you stop getting yourself nearly KILLED all the time so you can stop _wasting _MY time." He seethed, shoulders shaking in rage. He was so _angry_ right now! He was angry that ninja almost killed Sakura he was angry that Sakura let herself almost be killed he was angry that the first thing he did when he found out it was her was dash over here to save her and he was _angry _that she made him _feel _again.

Glaring in her direction, seeing her body swaying like feather falling to the ground, he was beyond amazed that she was even still standing, in fact he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him. Her chakra was completely gone, there was nothing there anymore. She must just be a wobbling corpse deciding which direction to fall to – which meant he just screamed at a corpse. A panic embedded itself in his chest at the thought she wasn't alive anymore, in fact looking closer into her eye he realized they even _looked_ _dead. _

_No. _His eyes narrowed as he ran closer to her, catching her body as it finally decided it would fall forward. At this proximity he could catch it, but it was only barely. There, in her right arm there was the tiniest flicker of chakra. It was so small, like a match that was burnt down to the end of the stick, but it was still there, and somehow it was keeping her alive. He sighed and all of the panic left him as he realized she would live.

He gently set her down so she was lying on the ground and kneeled by her, looking into her eyes, those dead looking and ghostly eyes. She turned them in his direction, and he was unaffected for the most part, but it was plaguing him at what could possibly have made her this way, made the normally energetic and vibrate girl look so … dead. The question made itself scarce as before his very eyes the light and life began to return to her own as she smiled a small smile up at him.

"_Gaara... what are you doing here? I guess… I must be dead if I get to see you –" _He barely heard anything coming from her trembling lips, in fact he was pretty sure that was the wind and that he was imagining those words because she was being so unbelievably quiet. And she was wasting energy talking. He glared down, angry she was risking her life to speak measly words, even though they did warm his heart – which just made him angrier.

"Stop wasting your energy on talking." He scolded her. She just smiled her gentle smile at him before her eyes closed and her lips parted slightly as she fell into unconsciousness.

_I should just end this now. She's already caused me trouble and its hardly been that long. _He glared down at her body, his fist clenching and beginning to shake as he stood up. _Yes, that's what I'll do, that is my decision. I'm going to end this here and NOW! _He raised his tense arm and opened his shaking fist, gathering his missing sand to swirl around the unconscious body of the pink haired girl before him. It wrapped around her in what might be described as a warm embrace – at least until the moment he decided to let it crush her very being,

He stared down at her memories flashing behind his eyes, memories of the only happy days he'd ever had.

They day they first met and she came over to play with him, giving him that bright smile and in turn letting a new light into his life, even if it was only for a short while.

_Your name is Gaara. _He reminded himself, closing his eyes as more memories began to flash by.

Those times he saved her life how she was so grateful to him, how she called his powers cool how she stood up for him against the eyes of the village children.

_The demon that loves only itself. _His eyes knit tighter together as the mantra repeated itself in his head doing nothing to slow the onslaught of memories.

Hugging her, her arms wrapped around him begging him to stop almost hurting people, her curled up next to him, laughing with _her. _Smiling at _her. _Cherishing _her. _

_LOVE ONLY YOURSELF! _His eyes shot open in anger sand growing tenser as he remembered some more memories. Those more unpleasant, of her being taken away, of Yashamaru calling him precious and then turning around and saying he hated him. _She'll do the same thing he did! No one loves you, don't let that happen again! _His face scrunched up as his fingers began to curl and he raised his hand a little higher into the air. _But then why hasn't she done that yet? _

He soon found out he couldn't bring himself to do it. His fist wouldn't close. His arm was just hovering there, with him just staring at her sand covered body, the only thing visible being her face. He gritted his teeth in anger. "UGGGGHHH!" He shouted tossing his hand to the side, the sand detaching from Sakura's body gently before crashing itself into a tree at the same time as he promptly punched the ground, creating a small crater. He just _couldn't _do it. He _couldn't _kill her.

And it pissed him off so much.

He just didn't want her to hurt him, to give her that power, he hated all of these emotions that were unraveled within him when she was around. He _hated _it. And at the same time he loved it. He loved that there was someone he felt he could trust – no matter how foolish the rest of him thought it may be. He loved that he was beginning to feel things again and he loved that it happened because of her. And it was all just so damn confusing!

He gazed in her direction, at her calm, sleeping face. So naïve about how she was just almost killed by his hand. Him – a person she seemed to trust so much for something that happened so many years ago. Gazing down at her, he couldn't help the way his eyes softened, and his body relaxed. He laughed to himself, not a happy laugh, but one of the laughs you give when your just so upset you can't do anything but laugh. _I don't have much of a choice do I? I can't kill her because she hasn't done anything wrong yet. _He kneeled down by her again and tucked one arm under her knees while the other went to support her head. _I guess I just have to keep her close and make sure nothing bad happens to her again. _He pressed her closer into his chest relishing in the feeling of having her in his arms again. Loving and hating just how right it all felt good to give into this desire instead of push it away, to give into his one weakness. _Its up to her now, she decides in her actions whether she is with me or against me. If it's the latter, then she sealed her own death. _**(1) **

He stood up and turned jumping back into the trees. Forgetting all about her teammates just a few miles away, not even noticing their presence drawing closer –not that he would have left her there anyway, that they deserved to have her in his opinion.

He just held her closer to him a little more as he got farther and farther away from the battle sight, ignoring the questioning glances of his siblings when he passed them and they turned around to follow him again.

He didn't even notice that his blood lust had vanished completely.

All seemed to be right with her in his arms.

* * *

Temari and Kankuro dashed after their brother. She had no idea what had gotten into him, one moment it was just a typical pace but then he slowed down only to take off ten times fast then either she or Kankuro could ever hope to be. Right when they were just a few leaps away from the clearing where the three had been battling, now all two chakra signatures destabilized and one just – gone, their little brother bust through the trees flying past them the other way.

Neither of the two failed to notice the extra body in Gaara's arms. Or that Gaara was actually touching a person. Or that that said person didn't have a Chakra signature.

Grunting as she used her feet to push off the next branch and turn around to follow her baby brother, she began to bombard him with questions "Gaara what's going on, who is that? Why doesn't she have a chakra signature, isn't she dead? Why are you carrying a dea-"She ceased her questions and swallowed hard when a black-rimmed glare was sent her way. She glanced over at her other brother who gave her the same look that was on her own face.

_What the hell is going on!?_

They didn't get any answers for a long time, it was just continuous running back the way they came until they finally landed in the same clearing they had found the squirrel in. Gaara landed first because he was in the lead and Temari and Kankuro were only a beat behind him. He glanced back at them evenly before he turned to the right and began to walk the way they were originally going before they took that small detour. Sighing, Temari began to follow not bothering to ask anything else for a while; she didn't want to know what would happen to her if she did. Instead Kankuro decided to ask after they were a short way into their journey.

"Hey Gaara are you ever gonna fill us in on exactly what you're doing carrying dead person? Or are you just gonna leave your team in the dark?" He asked, his question quite boldly stated considering they were talking to Gaara. But then again, Kankuro was just a bold person – or, as Temari would say, stupid. Gaara slowed to a stop and Temari's muscles tightened, anticipating a negative reaction. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her older brother stiffen a little too.

"She's not dead." Was the response they got. They relaxed but had puzzled looks on their faces.

"What?" Kankuro asked. "What do you mean? She has no Chakra signature." Gaara turned to face them fully at that statement eyes narrowing in annoyance.

"Are you really that stupid? If you bothered to look closer you could see she's breathing and if you expanded your chakra a little more you should be able to sense the slight signature from your distance." He scoffed at Kankuro. Kankuro tightened his jaw in annoyance and searched for her signature again, Temari doing the same. Sure enough it was there, even though it was slight and dim and difficult to sense even at their proximity. It was growing slightly because she was resting too. Looking closer, they could also observe the slight rise and fall of her chest. Sure enough, this girl was alive.

"So why are you taking her with us? Why not just leave her for dead or kill her yourself?" Temari asked. There was a slight pause as she thought about her own question. "Oh I get it, you're going to use her to lure her team and steal their scroll!"

"That's pretty clever Gaara. I'll carry her if you want so you don't have to waste energy." Kankuro added stepping forward to take the girl from him. Gaara backed away quicker then light and glared at his older brother.

"_Don't. Touch. her._"**(2)** He hissed out making both Temari and Kankuro flinch back. It was shocking enough Gaara was willingly touching another person, almost like a parallel universe but for him to be so … possessive of it was even more shocking.

"But Gaara –"

"Shut up." He gazed down at the girl in his arms as her unconscious body shifted a little closer to his own. Both siblings gawked at how peculiar this sight was, it was like he was holding something precious to him and like he'd do anything so it didn't get taken away. That as _not _the Gaara they knew. He looked up glaring at his siblings once more before turning his back to them again. "Come on, lets continue towards the tower, I'm sure we'll run into another team on the way."

Temari just stood there for a minute but when she saw Kankuro begin to move she followed him. She still didn't understand what was going on, or who that girl was although she did look familiar. It seemed that little pink haired girl had a huge impact on her little brother and she had no idea why or how but perhaps it would be a good thing.

Then again it could just end up making him worse.

Much, much worse.

* * *

**(This has a lot from the anime at this point, but it also has the changed details cause Sakura is With Gaara and his team, I tried to do bare minimum on stuff you would have watched cause I know its boring to read that but some of it is kinda needed in order to flow smoother, so bare with me a little longer? You guys are great! Sorry for making you reminisce this with me but its kinda fun to relive the anime in a different fashion isn't it?... Isn't it? …. No?…. okay …..)**

Kiba, Hinata and Shino dashed past branch after branch, Kiba howling about how lucky they were the team that fell into their trap earlier had a heaven scroll. Shino tried to get him to quiet down but Kiba, being Kiba, just kept up his loud celebration. It seemed like nothing was going to bring _his _mood down.

It was around that time that Akamaru started barking, sniffing people up ahead. Kiba just thought it would be genius to eliminate some of the competition and thought they should take the scroll of the group ahead. Even with Shino and Hinata's advice against it Kiba, just as he was seconds earlier, was still Kiba and they went along with their teammate.

When they got there though, there were already two teams about to fight so they hid behind some shrubbery. One of teams was made of three mist shinobi, some big scary looking guys with scars and everything. On the other side were three sand villagers, the one in front was a pipsqueak with red hair and a gourd on his back while the two behind him looked older, one girl with a giant fan and another a boy with purple face-paint. Akamaru began to shake from the level of chakra he was sniffing out and Kiba figured it meant the big Mist village ninja was going to demolish the sand pipsqueak.

"AH!" Shino and Kiba turned their heads when their heard a small gasp from Hinata.

"What is it?" Kiba whispered, his attention focused on her.

"K-Kiba didn't you s-see, the thing t-the red head is carrying… i-it's a person." She lifted her finger and Kiba's gaze was now directed to the person in the red heads arms, something he'd over looked when he had spared a glance in their direction before. His eyes widened as he saw the pink hair and the glint off the leaf village symbol on the headband.

"No way-" He breathed out.

"Its Sakura." All three of them whispered simultaneously utterly confused on what those ninja were doing with one of their own.

"It must be a trap for Sasuke and Naruto." Shino concluded and Hinata and Kiba nodded their heads in agreement. There wasn't much they could really do about it right now anyway even though both boys could tell Hinata was itching to go rescue her friend.

"Don't worry Hinata." Kiba whispered petting the shaking Akamaru and trying to calm him. "I don't think there's much that Pipsqueak could do to Sakura once she wakes up, she's super strong remember? They'll probably underestimate her and get knocked out cold!" he gave her a gentle smile trying to ease her nerves. She nodded but he could tell it hadn't done much good. He just turned his attention back to the mist and sand ninja.

"I've heard enough out of you. Lets make this quick so I don't waste time." The red head spoke as he kneeled to set Sakura gently on the ground next to him. _That's odd, if she's a captive why didn't he just toss her? _He shook the thought off, it didn't really matter why. The guy with the face paint suggested they gather information first so they didn't fight an unnecessary battle. "I don't care. They looked at me funny. So – they're gonna die." Akamaru's shaking worsened and all three of them stiffened at hearing the seriousness in his voice.

The mist Shinobi tossed the umbrellas from his back into the air and as they spun, senbon began to rain from the sky attacking the kid with red hair from every angle. The Mist Shinobi seemed over confident that it would work, while the red head seemed unnerved. Hinata's eyes widened and she made a move to stand, if the needles hit the boy then they'd hit Sakura too. Kiba gripped her sleeve to keep her down, surprised they normal shy and quivering girl's action to be so bold, but then again Sakura was Hinata's closest friend. She shut her eyes tight as the needles hit the ground.

"Is that all you can do?" Her eyes snapped open at the eerie sound of the red head's voice, seeing him shielded by a dome of rock hard sand, Sakura safely inside as well – body unharmed. "I have an idea, lets make it rain blood instead." His eyes narrowed and Hinata scooted back at the dark humor he had. Not a single one of them liked the idea of their pink haired friend, or anyone else for that matter, being even a mile close to that guy. Especially after what came next.

The mist Shinobi charged forward foolishly even after the face paint kid warned them they couldn't beat 'Gaara' and his unique jutsu. The Gaara kid spread his arms out before bringing them back in and forming a triangle with his hands, the two behind him just smirking knowing smirks. Gaara turned his body slightly to the left, his left hand leaving only two fingers raised as his right pushed forward with the fingers curling slightly,

"Sand Coffin." It was called. The 'sand coffin' made sand wrap around the mist shinobi's leg before soon encasing the whole body of the enemy in a thick hive of sand. It seemed taunting, the way Gaara said killing him the easy was would be to boring as he grabbed the mist shinobi own weapon – the umbrella- that had fallen to the ground upon his imprisonment, and opened it to hold it above his head digging one into the ground next to Sakura to shield her from whatever was about to happen. _Odd again…_Then he stepped forward and brought his right hand closer to his face, the fingers still curled slightly as the man incased in sand was raised higher and higher into the air. He brought his arm out, lift it up before clenching his fist and proclaiming the words "sand burial." There was a sickening crunch as blood so dark and thick that it was black began to rain from the sky. Kiba and Hinata's eyes opened wide, the pupil shrunk to a point where it was barely visible. They were pretty sure Shino had the same look but hey – who can really tell all you can actually see of him is his nose.

Gaara explained there wasn't any pain, as if that would give whatever closure to the two other shivering mist ninja in front of him. They tossed the scroll, _b__egging _for their lives to be spared. "The corpse's crimson bitter tears flow and mingle though the endless sand feeding the chaos in me and making me stronger" **(3) **With that said he tossed the umbrella aside and had the other two meet the same fate as the one before them, their agonized screams echoing through the forest.

The three behind the shrubbery turned away, trying to blend in and not get caught. Kiba was regretting coming here now. They heard the footsteps and the voice of the face paint boy saying that the mist nin had had a heaven scroll and would be heading to the tower now. They thought they were safe until Gaara said it wasn't enough and they could practically feel the maniacal gaze burning into their backs, as if the bushes they were behind were nothing.

"Lets just go." The older boys voice seemed to be trying to reason with him.

"What you scared? Coward."

"Look this is Dangerous for Temari and me, even though its easy for you just listen to your big brother for once!"

"I don't think of you like my big brother at all, if you get in my way I'll kill you."

"You don't have to treat us like the enemy, do it as a favor for your sis – please?" The girl spoke for the first time, her voice hesitant and pleading.

"uhmmm." Hinata's eyes opened wider at the sound of Sakura's voice, murmuring in her sleep. She peeked through the leaves shielding them from the sand ninja and saw her pink haired friend stirring. Gaara glanced down at her and dropped his hand that had been facing towards the three behind the bush. It seemed like he just remembered she was there. The sand on the ground lifted itself up into the gourd and the cork sealed it tightly shut as he kneeled to pick her up again.

"Alright, just this once." With that, they continued on their way, while Hinata Shino and Kiba held their breaths until they were sure the sand ninja were gone.

* * *

Naruto poked at the Fire Sasuke had made. They currently had six fish cooking and even though they would each get three, Naruto couldn't help but think how they should both only get two, the other two would be Sakura's. His eyes were downcast as he glared at the ground. It was already day four and they still hadn't found Sakura who had gone missing Day two. They'd run over to her area as fast as they could, leaving the sound nin alive as they were only thinking of saving their friend and teammate. But when they got there all they found were two unconscious sound ninja and Sakura's body was no where to be seen. What made it all worse was the fact that they couldn't pick up on her Chakra signature because it was two small and they were both pretty weak – Naruto from using the Kyuubi (although he didn't know that's what it was) and Sasuke because of the bruise Orochimaru left on his neck.

They had rested the rest of that day, not having much energy to do anything else. Then on day three they searched what felt like their entire side of the forest for her but they couldn't find her, they still couldn't even pick up her chakra! It infuriated them to no end. It was late in the after noon right now, they took a break after their stomachs began to insistently growl and they already ate all of their packed food, even the portion Sakura left behind when she mysteriously disappeared. _We probably would have conserved more if she'd been here to hit me on the head…_

"Naruto." Sasuke spoke from his place on the other side of the fire. "I think Sakura may have been taken by another team, probably one trying to lure us out and take our scrolls." He grabbed one of the sticks that had a fish skewered and removed it from the fire. "Although I don't know why they didn't just wait there for us…" That comment seemed to be to himself as he observed the fish intently. "Anyway, if that's the case they're probably waiting at the tower to take our scrolls and eliminate us from the competition in exchange for Sakura. And even if that's not the case and Sakura either escaped from whoever took her or never was taken by a team and just somehow transported away somewhere so she wouldn't get killed, she'd probably be smart enough not to look around in the forest and just wait at the tower for us to show up."

Naruto squinted his eyes trying to take in what Sasuke had said but really only understanding Sakura's name. Still he nodded his head and pursed his lips as if he knew exactly what was going on.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about do you dobe." It wasn't a question but a statement as Sasuke stared at him with a flat look on his face already knowing the answer.

"Nope." Sasuke hung his head at that.

"Basically we're just going to head to the tower from here – we already have both scrolls anyway because the sound ninja had an earth scroll to match our heaven one - and if she's not there, well…I guess we assume the worst." He gripped the stick tightly. _She should have been smarter then that, thinking she had to give her life so we could get away, how stupid! If she died we're out of the Chunin exams anyway so what was the point in doing all that!_ He thought as he took a vicious bite of his fish, Naruto began to do the same to his own. _Now look at all the trouble she's caused. _He sighed as he finished the rest of his meal quietly, Naruto having finished his long before – MAN could that kid eat.

He stood and kicked some sand onto the fire before turning to leave, Naruto by his side as they dashed into the forest, heading for the center. Hoping they were heading towards Sakura.

They were getting closer to the tower. It was only a few miles away when they ran into the Kabuto kid from before, the one with all those special cards. They were surprised to say the least, and defiantly surprised that Kabuto didn't have his team with him. Of course, at first they anticipated a fight before Kabuto reveled he already had his two scrolls.

"Where's your other teammate? The girl with the pink hair that likes to hit the blonde kid?" He asked and Sasuke came up with a quick lie.

"She's off somewhere else, we split up to look for scrolls and Naruto and I found the one we needed first, we already made contact with her and are meeting at the tower." No matter how helpful this guy seemed Sasuke didn't trust him, so he wasn't going to give him to much information.

"I see is that so? Well you are aware that now that the days are drawing to a close, all the teams will be heading towards the tower to get the last scrolls they need or collectors will be there to collect extra scrolls and eliminate the competition." He informed them, pushing his glasses up. "I don't know how well your pink haired friend, Sakura was it?, can handle herself or you for that matter so if you want I'll help guide you through."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What's in it for you?" Kabuto laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, turning around to continued walking forward.

"Well to be honest I'm pretty scared to go there alone, I'd like some help and I bet you guys could use a third man to help you out too – just like a three man squad you know? That way it won't feel like your missing a member." Sasuke grunted reluctantly but agreed none the less.

Turned out that Kabuto did come in handy when they ran into the same mist ninja that they had originally fought – this time he had his team with him though. Kabuto was the first to realize they were in a genjutsu and was very informative on the types of clones they were using. The battle pushed Sasuke to his limits, when he tried to use his sharingan a stabbing pain would be inflicted in his shoulder but somehow he pulled through so he could see where the real mist nin's were hiding. That gave Naruto – who had actually been doing much of the fighting – albeit recklessly – the opportunity to strike, replacing them all with clones until the mist nins thought they won and showed the real them.

By the end of it all, they had gathered an extra heaven scroll - Guess they were the ones who turned out to be collectors.

They were about to head back to the tower when they heard a voice.

"So these are the ones Kankuro?"

"Guess so Temari." Two figures jumped down in front of them, both the ones they had run into before at the village.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke took on a fighting stance as well as Naruto. Temari rolled her eyes.

"Just follow us we'll take you to your teammate."

"You're the ones that have Sakura!" Naruto shouted,

"So that's pinkies name? Thank God its been bugging me the whole way here!" Temari stated.

Losing his stance, Naruto charged forward, Sasuke held him back by his shirt. _Well now Kabuto knows I lied.. if he hadn't guessed it already._ "Let me at em! Let me at em! They kidnapped Sakura! They kidnapped Sakura!" Naruto chanted trying to walk forward but going nowhere.

Kankuro scoffed. "More like we saved her life."

"Gaara saved her life." Temari piped in the correction.

"More like Gaara saved her life."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. Oh he didn't like that at all. _Here we are worried sick and she's probably having the time of her life snuggling up to her precious Gaara. _Hiding his rising temper he asked another question. "So what, you gonna take our scrolls in exchange or something?" The two in front of him exchanged a glance before Temari sighed.

"If I'm being perfectly honest, we have no idea what were doing, just follow us and I'm sure we'll figure it out once we get there." They both made a move to turn around.

"Why don't I trust that?" He asked still holding back Naruto who was still saying his mantra and still futilely trying to walk forward.

"Fine. I really don't care whether you follow us or not I don't want to deal with this! Lets just go I don't care what Gaara says when we come back without them." Kankuro huffed both making a move to leap into the trees and take off.

"Wait!" Naruto said, stopping his charge. The two paused and Naruto turned to Sasuke. "They have Sakura we know that much! If we don't go who knows what they'll do to her!" Sasuke reluctantly grunted and let Naruto go. Kabuto, who had been intently watching the seen with intrigued eyes, told them he was going to keep heading towards the spot by the tower he was meeting his team, and with that they parted ways. Sasuke gave a hard look at the Sand ninja.

"Alright, now where's Sakura?"

* * *

Gaara sat with his back against the wall of the tower, Temari off to his right cooking some bugs in a fire for lunch and Kankuro off scouting the area. Sakura's still sleeping body was lying against his shoulder and it'd already been two days since he found her. During those days they had been outside of the tower waiting for her team to show up. They had tried to enter when they first made it to the tower - the night they had received their second scroll and found Sakura - but had been turned away because they had Sakura with them and Gaara refused to leave her out here on her own where she could be hurt. His '_Siblings_' were more then annoyed but he couldn't care less, he had Sakura by his side and right then that was all that mattered to him.

She was getting better steadily all the time. He felt her chakra had returned almost completely to her, though some of it had even been pooling back into her upper right arm like an extra chakra storage space that filled itself up automatically. She had a fairly large amount of Chakra, nowhere near close to his and perhaps just a little bit less then the Uchiha's but it was still a lot of chakra for someone of their age and rank. For some reason it made him feel proud. He let out a small smile - one that he had felt come to his lips at times when he looked at her - and it was then that he felt her begin to stir.

Her eyes fluttered open and she brought her hand to her mouth as she yawned and moved away from him – much to his distaste – to stretch. Then she gently snuggled back into him seemingly not knowing where she was or who she was with but he really couldn't care less about that either.

"Hey is she awake now?" Temari's voice made Sakura's eyes snap open and she shot up in the air getting a good five-yard radius from him in about two seconds. Gaara sent a glare Temari's way for startling Sakura before turning his gaze back to her – a much softer look then what he had presented his sister with. For some reason Sakura's cheeks were red.

"Gaara?" She asked relaxing her stance when seeing him although she glanced suspiciously at Temari. It made him feel good that for once some one was relaxed looking at him when normally he was the one that made people tense up. She held her head for a bit, clearly dizzy from standing up to quickly and "So that wasn't a dream…" She glanced at his shoulder then and her faced turned red again. "And I … I was just," He nodded raising what would have been eyebrows. He was curious as to her blushing although if he was anyone other then Gaara he would have admitted to himself he thought that is made her look … cute. "Ah. I see." After a short pause she sat down next to him after asking if it was okay. It was nice to have her back by his side.

"What's your name pinky?" Temari asked Sakura. Gaara felt tempted to glare as his 'sister' again at the nickname she used, but Sakura seemed to have that covered.

"I'll give you mine when you give me yours." Sakura sent her a flat look.

"Temari, I'm Gaara's sister." It was then that Kankuro dropped in.

"Oh look sleeping beauty is finally awake." He commented grinning before turning to his Gaara. "The perimeter is all clear, I didn't see anyone headed this way although I sensed some chakra signatures not to far off. seems like a battles going on right now."

"And this would be…" Sakura stated waiting for someone to fill her in,

"That's Kankuro, he's my other teammate." Gaara told her and she nodded.

"I'm also his older brother." Kankuro walked over and squatted down to eye level with her, reminding her painfully of what her parents did for here when she was little but she shook it off. "You've caused us quite the hassle missy we would already be in this tower two days ago if Gaara hadn't insisted we not ditch you unconscious outside. You're kind of cute though so I guess I'll forgive you."

"TWO DAYS!" Her eyes shot out of her head and Kankuro fell backwards surprised by the volume of her voice. Gaara leaned to the other side slightly, a tad annoyed by the volume himself. "Sasuke and Naruto must be worried sick! What happened!?"

"Hey cool it will yah?! You were drained of Chakra and unconscious and for some odd reason Gaara decided to take you with us and carried you until we got here. We've been camped out here for the last two days because we're barred from entering the tower with you with us." He explained eyes narrowing in annoyance. Sakura stood up and started pacing worriedly.

"Two days? That's insane! The last thing I remember was trying to stop the sound village girl from getting to Naruto and Sasuke and then my chakra was going to be all used up but then," She turned to Gaara as she tried to piece together what happened to her, "and then you. I remember you showed up and knocked my attacker into some trees then you yelled at me and –" She blushed again thinking of the next part before coughing and letting the red drain from her cheeks, "then caught me before I passed out," She turned to Kankuro now, "Wait you said he carried me all the way here?" Kankuro nodded raising his eyebrows like he thought she was slow in the head. Her eyes widened as she glanced from Kankuro's face to Gaara before her face heated up again. Kankuro smirked, seeming to know what that meant before his face became confused as he glanced from Gaara to her. Gaara was now confused by both Sakura's and Kankuro's reaction.

She stopped her pacing and returned to normal then. "So… I guess I did cause you guys a lot of trouble huh? That was a pretty stupid thing of me to do in the first place almost dying like that." She looked down somberly and laughed the last part lightly to herself. She bowed to all three of them. Which pretty much shocked them all – I mean they expected her to think - "I'm sorry for that… but," She lifted her head and tilted it to the side questioningly, "aren't you just going to use me for some trap for my team?" well they expected her to say just that. Temari scoffed.

"I wish," She looked at Gaara before returning her attention to the fire and taking off a bug shish kebab. "Here, you haven't eaten in a long time you must be starving." Sakura looked at the bugs, and contemplated taking it first. She figured if they were going to kill her they would have done it already and even if it was bugs she really didn't have room to be picky so she took it and began to dig in, finally realizing how hungry she really was. Luckily they all had enough food to fill them up comfortably.

"So can we go in now Gaara? I mean she's awake and can handle herself." Kankuro stated, kicked some dirt on the fire.

"Not until her team gets here."

"Gaara its okay, I've caused you guys enough trouble anyway and you've been far to kind, I mean you didn't even keep me as a captive but rescued me instead I'm kind of already deep in your debt anyway." Sakura said gazing guiltily at her friend from six years ago. "Besides, I'm sure Sasuke and Naru-" She cut herself off and whipped her head in the direction Kankuro had said there was a fight going on. She had extended her chakra to search for them and instantly found them a little ways away in battle. Sasuke wasn't looking to good for some reason, there was this… strange chakra battling his own, and Naruto's own chakra was getting exhausted – shadow clones no doubt. Then there was someone else… one they had meet before was with them – Kabuto she thought it was. She didn't trust that at all. "Their over there." She stood up and was going to go over but Gaara's sand kept her in place. Temari and Kankuro tensed but Sakura seemed unaffected, used to the feeling of his sand and its gentle yet firm embrace. "Gaara. They're my team I have to go help them." She set a firm gaze to him, her eyes laced with worry for her team.

He grew slightly jealous and agitated at this but didn't show it, instead fixing his own firm gaze at her. "You got yourself into enough trouble from the last battle you got in. You're staying here." His voice had an edge of finality. After a short stare off Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. "Temari, Kankuro, go get them and bring them here." He ordered his team and they stood up without questioning it, knowing it would be pointless when it came to this topic, and took off in the direction of the battle.

It was just them now, left alone together in silence. It was a nice silence though, one where you feel comfortable. Sakura leaned against the wall before rolling her head lazily to he shoulder to look at the boy beside her.

"There's something bugging me." She spoke. He raised what should have been an eyebrow, urging her to continue. "When you came to rescue me you said '_Why don't you stop getting yourself nearly KILLED all the time so you can stop wasting MY time' _" She tried deepening her voice in a bad attempt at imitating his.

"And?" He asked smiling humorously at her.

"Well you said stop getting yourself nearly killed – like you've known I've done it before. You also said to stop doing it so I wouldn't waste your time – meaning those other near death experiences you mentioned you saved me in them." His eyes widened and he knew where this was going. "So that means you were lying to me. You really do remember me don't you?" She said. _She's called me on my bluff. Great she couldn't remember much else when she woke up but she just HAD to remember this? _"So… why? I mean did you just not want to talk to me?" Her eyes saddened. "I mean its okay if I was… bugging you or if you didn't want to see me.. I just want to know the truth is all. I can take it you know." He didn't look at her eyes, he didn't want to look at her when she was sad and knew it was because of him.

"Its not that… I didn't want to see you…" He tried to explain. "Its just I had a slight memory lapse… I remembered you later, after I talked to you at the training grounds." He came up with a clever lie on the spot, daring to look at her to see if she'd believe it. Her eyes looked at him knowingly and a childish grin broke out on her face that made him feel six years old again.

"Oh well that makes sense! I had one of those the day we started the Chunin exam! I had forgotten some people who I knew that long ago too!" he sighed mentally, relieved. She trusted people to much, that or she just trusted him a lot. He really didn't want to heave to tell her about all that had happened in the last six years especially – _the imaged of Kazuna and Takeshi covered in sand flashed in his mind_ – especially _that._ She defiantly wouldn't be able to take the truth.

They began their comfortable silence again and not long after that Kankuro and Temari returned with Sakura's teammates. All four of them landed and upon seeing her team, particularly the Uchiha he felt a fit of fury swell inside of him. Sakura wouldn't have almost died if they had been there. His glare didn't go unnoticed by the sharingan wielder, and he just tried to match Gaara's glare evenly. Key word: tried.

"Naruto Sasuke are you guys alright?!" Sakura was about to stand up only to have herself kept in place by Gaara's sand again. She shot him a questioning and surprised glance. "Gaara…"

"Hey let her go!" Naruto shouted fists clenched.

"That depends, how many scrolls do you have?" Gaara asked. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he began to pull out two of the three scrolls – if they were going to take them it would leave greater odds of succeeding the last day if they still had one scroll left.

"So this _is _what you wanted after all." He voiced his thought as he still held out the scrolls in his hand. "So you going to give us Sakura if we give you these?" Gaara's glare intensified as he saw both the scrolls were heaven scrolls.

"No."

"What?" Temari, Kankuro, Sasuke and the blonde said. Sakura just stared at him dumbfounded.

"I said no." He repeated. "You don't have an earth scroll, which means you can't get into the tower, which means your going to go back out there and fight again, which means you – being her unreliable team – will probably leave her to fight more then she could handle again."

"Hey I could have handled them just fine!" Sakura voiced her disagreement but Gaara narrowed his eyes at her as if to say, _didn't look like it. _She quieted herself.

"Wait so your trying to tell us that once we're able to enter the tower, you're just going to give her too us and not take our scrolls?" Naruto asked, scratching his head. Gaara simply nodded.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, and the look from Temari and Kankuro told him they thought the same question.

"Because you were incapable of keeping her safe before, isn't that enough?"

"Shouldn't you actually be trying to kill her or something? Or trying to eliminate us as competition I mean I really don't get your logic here." Naruto stated.

"Yeah Gaara, why are you just giving them a free ticket in?" Kankuro asked. The glare Gaara sent their way just made them be quiet.

"Fine if that's what you want us to show you." He pulled out the third scroll, their earth one. "There, happy now?" Gaara nodded in approval after a slight inspection of the scroll. "So you're going to give us Sakura." Gaara paused for a beat before he reluctantly released the hold of sand he had on her and stood at the same time she did. When she began to walk over, he walked with her by her side. Gaara stopped as soon as they were a foot in front of her team and to Sasuke and Naruto's surprise and Temari and Kankuro's slight shock, she stopped to, as if his movements had decided her own. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You coming?" She blinked as if just realizing what she did.

"Of course I am you 're the one not making a move to go anywhere." She tried to throw it back at him. He rolled his eyes and looked at them again before locking eyes with Gaara. In their stare down, Sasuke reached over and grabbed Sakura's arm, pulling her along to their 'side' as if to say that she sided with them. Gaara seethed inwardly at the Uchiha's bold move, he didn't like how he just reached over and took her, as if she belonged to him. And her _really _didn't like how he just took her away from his side. Just like Takeshi had done all those years ago.

"Thanks for looking after her. We'll be going now." He turned to go to the other side of the tower entry Naruto following along with him. Sakura stayed a beat later and bowed only slightly thanking them again before Sasuke grabbed her arm again and yanked her along.

"Hey knock it off!" She pulled her arm away and shoved ahead of them. Sasuke then tried to shove ahead of her. And Naruto, thinking it was a game tried to shove ahead of both of them – and so it went until the sand shinobi could no longer see them .

"Well aren't they an interesting bunch?" Temari commented before turning back to Gaara and Kankuro again. "Are you sure you wanted to just let them go though? I mean the whole reason we're here is to destroy the leaf village anyway, eliminating those three leaf village nin from the competition could have been useful." Gaara looked at in his sister's eyes.

"I know why were here." He said. "and if they participate, then they should be weaker from the fighting." He told them – trying to cover for the fact he just wanted Sakura to be okay. Temari had reminded him they were here to destroy Sakura's home and that made him feel a little pang of guilt. _But its for the best. Besides, if there's no more Konoha she could just stay in Suna…yeah that sounds good. _He tried to ease the guilt inside of him with that thought. "Come one, lets enter the tower."

* * *

The first thing that happened when they talked to Iruka sensei and got into the tower was Sakura was attacked in a fierce hug by Hinata.

"Sakura! I'm so glad you're alive! How did you guys even make it here? Didn't they take your scrolls?" Sakura stood in shock as her shy friend spoke without stuttering. Her arms hung limp at her sides while she was engulfed in Hinata's tight hug.

"Yeah I did make a close call but there's no need to worry, Gaara saved me." She said trying to calm her friend before something dawned upon her. "Wait how did you know I almost died? And that I was with another team?" Hinata unlatched herself from Sakura and stared at her with a confused look.

"Sakura, we saw you with that-that Sand village person! H-he's like a monster Sakura! He killed three mist ninja like it was nothing! Even seemed like he enjoyed it!" She clenched her fists by her chest, seemingly desperate to get this information out. "You were unconscious but we saw it all an-"

"That's enough Hinata." Kiba whispered coming up to her right. "He's _here_." He titled his head slightly right and sure enough Gaara and his siblings were leaning against the far wall, Gaara staring right at the group – probably over hearing their conversation. Sakura didn't notice him there because she was preoccupied just staring at her friend - way past taken aback by all that she was hearing.

"What are you talking about Hinata? Gaara is one of the sweetest people I know he's saved my life four times now after all." Hinata was shivering something not to unusual but the look in her eyes spoke fear and sakura enveloped her in a hug trying to console her. "Look its okay. Alright?" After a while, she seemed to have calmed down and, although at first it was awkward - they began an idle chitchat about what they had gone through to get here – Hinata not bothering to mention her seeing the death of the three mist ninja this time around.

They had to wait around all day and everyone fell asleep within their groups fairly quickly, well accept for Sakura who was going another night without sleeping – considering she had just been passed out for two whole days – and Gaara who just never slept. They were on opposite sides of the room and just kinda… staring at each other… there wasn't exactly much else to look at.

"So… you gonna go to sleep?" She asked trying to start conversation. With no place to train, it was kind of boring just staying awake.

"I don't sleep." Was his simple answer, and there was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "Are you going to sleep, or do you not want to be defenseless in front of me after what your friend told you?" There was a trace of bitterness when he said the word friend, and suspicion was clear throughout the whole statement.

"Are you seriously worried about that?" She asked raising an eyebrow. Then she sighed and tilted her head back against the wall as she stared at the ceiling. "No. I just don't sleep often and when I do its only because my body can't physically stay awake any longer." She let that sink in as she thought about his question more. Hinata wasn't someone to lie, and for telling her something so boldly and with such fear then it must have been true, Sakura just assumed Gaara had a good reason for killing them, they were probably threatening him or his team and it was the only way. Although, he and his team didn't _look_ injured and she never used death as any kind of resort, she didn't know what had gone on so she couldn't really be swayed either way. "Actually, If I'm being honest out of everyone in this room –save Hinata and the blonde idiot over here –" She taped Naruto's sleeping shoulder lightly making him snore before moving into a more comfortable position, "You're the person I feel the most comfortable being defenseless around." It was true, although everyone here was her friend – Save, the jerk face Neji, the spunky girl TenTen and the person she worried might become a goofy kind of stalker Lee – she still felt the most comfortable around Gaara. She snuck a peek at his reaction, and for the most part his facial expression didn't change, but his eyes, even from all the way across the room, she could tell they held confusion.

"That's not very smart." He stated. "I'm from a different village after all and you don't actually know much about me." She let out a small laughed and looked right into his eyes again.

"It wasn't very smart to let me and my team walk in here scotch free when you had the ability to prevent us from continuing." She pointed out. "Or even saving my life for that matter – wasn't very smart. I am from a different village after all and you don't really know me all that well." She giggled as his face oh so subtly formed a pout as she threw his words back at him. At least she thought that's what it was. Her curiosity made her being to crawl forward in the darkness until she was right in front of him. He was looking at her strangely now – one would-be eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing?" She smiled and giggled as she sat down in front of him.

"You were pouting. I didn't know if I was imagining it or not so I wanted to take a closer look and you _were!" _She said as he made another slight pouting face.

"I was not pouting I do not pout." She held her stomach and put a hand over her mouth as she tried to contain her giggles. It was funny seeing such a serious person pouting and denying it at the same time as he was doing it. She tried to keep her giggles in so she wouldn't wake anyone and her whole body began to shake before she finally was able to breath out her next few words.

"Y-y-es-s-s you w-w-e-re-e-" She said between her laughter. Finally she calmed down and just looked at him again. Tilting her head to the side. His face was back in its usual expression. "I know it's not smart." She said after a while. He raised an eyebrow as if to ask what she meant – he wouldn't admit it but he had enjoyed seeing her laugh and had gotten so lost just watching her laughing that her voice surprised him. "I know it's not smart to trust you but - I just do." She explained, shrugging. "It might have something to do with the fact that –even six years later – you're still coming to my rescue. I mean if you go through the trouble to 'waste your time' as you put it, then I figure you wouldn't just go and kill me." That _did_ make sense.

"Why don't you sleep?" He asked a beat later, imitating the head tilt she was oh so famous for, making her giggle again. He let out a small smile at seeing that. To him, it was like they were the only two here right now just as it should be.

"I just… think its easier not to sleep" Her giggling stopped and her tone became more serious and quiet – her eyes downcast. "I don't like the things I see when I fall asleep, its easy to just stay awake for as long as I can until I pass out. I know that's not smart either but at least then all I see is black before I wake up again." She stated. He didn't like that this subject made her sad – but he was curious about it.

"What do you see that scares you so much you'd rather not sleep?" He asked her. At first he thought she didn't hear him, because she wasn't doing anything but sitting there. He was about to change the subject when she answered again.

"Its different all the time – the beginning at least. Normally it's a memory about … my parents." She looked at the floor now. "I'm sure you probably heard about the Suna massacre six years ago, I mean you live there and all." His shoulder had become stiff at the mention of her parents but the Suna massacre – which he just so happened to be the center of –made his whole body freeze and the blood pound in his ears. Partly because he didn't want her to know that he did that, and partly because remembering the blood shed made the inner demon in him smile and thirst for more blood – another thing he didn't want Sakura to know about just yet.

"Well, they were visiting there then – it was a short trip and I had just started at the academy so they didn't want to take me with them. But they –" Her breath got caught before she got past it and continued, "they were some of the people who died that day. I don't know how it happened or who could have done that but I just haven't been able to sleep well since hearing the news." She looked up at him again. "I know its sounds silly, but I loved my parents they were the closest people to me and it just…hearing they wouldn't be there anymore… I felt like dying myself."

He didn't understand this. He didn't get why this was so terrible. It hurt him to hear her say that and that she was so sad. In his mind though, he thought it was for the best. In the long run, they were just an obstacle keeping her away from him.

"So sometimes I just see memories of the day I found out, sometimes my mind imagines them being killed before my eyes and it gets worse each time because of the more ways I know they could have died. And more recently I sometimes see my friends being hurt or killed and I can't move my body to protect them." Her body shook before she gave him a small smile, tilting her head again. "Then after that -always after that - I have the same nightmare that's completely unrelated and by now it doesn't scare me as much as it gives me an uneasy feeling." She opened her eyes and gazed at him apologetically. "Sorry for pinning that all on you – I've never actually told anyone about that before, it kinda felt good to say."

He couldn't believe that all of that happened just because two people died. What did they matter anyway? He never knew his own mother and his father had been trying to kill him for 7 years before he finally accepted Shukaku and his father finally gave up on sending assassins. So why would parents matter so much. They were the ones that took her away from him after all. He really didn't understand, but he didn't like that this had caused her so much pain.

"Why don't you sleep?" She asked – breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Me? I just don't need to." He lied. the truth was he just didn't trust anyone around him to not try and kill him, but what would that make her think? That and the Shukaku liked to take over his body when he was sleeping – and unlike her he didn't pass out because of the extra stamina the demon in him gave him.

Their heads shot to the side as they heard a door creak open.

"Finally! I thought we'd never make it here!" a feminine voice stated, obviously annoyed.

"INO!" Sakura squeaked quietly, jumping up and running over to the sound of the voice – much to his distaste. He saw the owner of the voice appear before Sakura and blink at the pinkette before enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Yo! What up forehead! Surprised you made it this far!" She said before releasing her and clapping a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Then again you have Sasuke on your team!" Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed Ino's shoulder off.

"Whatever Ino pig. You might want to keep you're obnoxious voice down or you'll wake everyone up and then you have 13 angry ninja wanting to kill you." Ino looked behind Sakura at the group of sleeping people. There was Neji, Lee, TenTen, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Naruto, Sasuke, Temari, Kankuro, Kabuto, two ninja who were dressed the same way as Kabuto and finally there was one wide awake Gaara – just staring at them in confusion. He didn't get it, were they friends or enemies? He didn't like what the blonde haired girl was saying to Sakura but it wasn't seeming to bug her. He just continued to observe the strange behavior, waiting until Sakura would come and join him again.

"Don't try and change me billboard brow." She said lightly shoving past Sakura's shoulder and making her way over to Shikamaru and Choji. Ino's two teammates had went ahead and found a spot to sleep when Sakura had greeted Ino earlier. Both of them were already sleeping – Choji lying down right next to a bag of chips. Sakura chuckled following after her blonde friend.

"But there just so much that needs work." Sakura stated, which made Ino turn on her heal and stick her tongue out at her. "Pig." She smirked as she got the desired reaction from her friend.

"Forehead!" Ino voiced in the volume that they usually held this conversation. She had complelty forgotten about the sleeping people and a shoe was chucked at her head.

"BE QUIET SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" Naruto, who was now sitting up and rubbing his eyes, shouted at the top of his lungs waking up everyone else who proceeded to throw the closest object they could get their hands on at him.

"SHUT UP!" They all shouted. Ino just exchanged a glance with Sakura before they both burst out laughing, in the most uncontrollable laughter ever. Gaara just stared at them – completely confused - but the humorous mood, even if it was more then just from Sakura, made him feel almost …light.

After a short while Ino fell asleep so Sakura decided to sit by Gaara. They talked here and there about pointless things. Missions they'd been on, places they'd been. He let her do most of the talking – he found it interesting to listen to her and it made him feel… happy. He wanted it to be like this. To be able to talk to her and see her laugh and smile, for her to be by his side and to protect her. He wanted her to be his, to never be taken away. Yes this is what he wanted. And this was his new decision, not that his other choice really worked out when he attempted it.

She left his side when Sasuke began to stir saying, "He'll probably be angry and I don't want to put up with a cranky-ass Uchiha." When her back was turned he glared at the direction of her teammates.

If he wanted her to stay with him then some things needed to be changed –obstacles needed to be removed.

Even if those obstacles were people. **(4) **

* * *

After the 5th day ended all the Shinobi that had completed the second exam stood in a group in front of the village leaders and the teams' senseis. The sound ninja Sakura had fought earlier had been the last to show up – much to her distaste, and although the Female sound nin was sporting some fractured ribs she still choose to tough it out. So there was a total of 21 ninja who made it. Right when the Hokage was about to explain the third exam, the third Exam proctor, Hayate Gekko, explained that preliminary exams had to be held first because 21 was too many. Kabuto opted out of taking these so the number was now an even 20 making for a good even amount of 1V1's and no one was going to get a freebee. Sakura started to feel like she had an edge considering she hadn't been in battle for the past 3 days and was able to recharge all of her chakra. But then again – a lot of the people here had had time to rest too, save the sound ninja.

Despite the resting time, it was obvious Sasuke was in pain but refused to let anyone tell him to give up or let her or Naruto tell the teachers about the curse mark. She had scoffed and wrenched her arm out of his grip when he had stopped her from raising her hand to tell them. She had said "Fine, be in pain for all I care." Even though she was really worried about him.

Ironically he was the first match but he took the guy out like it was nothing, he didn't even use any chakra. When it was over he was taken away by Kakashi to treat his 'injuries'. The next battle was between Shino and one of the sound ninja Sakura fought before – the one she had knocked out that had those wind pressure hands. She had to say she had been extremely impressed with Shino's tactic of distraction – finally someone wasn't talking to waste time but was talking so they could do something productive. She felt bad for the sound nin though, it looked like it hurt to have the wind escape through you and destroy your arms.

Kankuro was up next and against a super flexible sound nin from Kabuto's team. Apparently he could pop out all his joints and use his chakra to make him super flexible but Kankuro got him with a puppet – equally able to perfectly control his Chakra - and then, even after he said he gave up, Kankuro used the puppet to break the mans bones. She flinched at the sight, looking away. That wasn't something she needed to see.

Temari was up against TenTen and wiped the floor with her. Sakura felt bad for her fellow ninja and acquaintance, TenTen seemed really nice and yet even going all out with her weapons she still couldn't land a scratch on Temari. And Gaara's sister's fan was really something, the way it controlled the wind like that to cut TenTen up. Sakura felt like she could have done something, her arms twitched to form hand signs and combat Temari's wind with her own so that she could free her fellow Ninja, but that wouldn't do her any good anyway. She already lost.

The ever lazy Shikamaru was next to fight and although she was nervous for her friend she knew he was a genius and, with his smarts, would be able to win. It wasn't looking so good at the very beginning, his shadow jutsu was dodged and then his opponent – the sound ninja girl - began attacking him with all these senbon. The ringing from the bells attached to the weapons seemed to be doing something to his head – although Sakura wasn't sure exactly what it was. In the end of it all, Shikamaru got her in his jutsu by having his shadow trail below the string of the senbon with strings attached to them – to hide it so she wouldn't notice, and made her hit her head on the back wall effectively knocking her out. Sakura smirked happily – after all, his opponent had been the female sound ninja that almost killed her.

The next battle Kiba's name was drawn. Kiba was a haughty and proud person, he liked to show what he could do and brag about it later. She had been hearing him do it for years. It seemed like no matter the challenge, Kiba would take it on, confident that he would win. So when he didn't even make a move to go down into the ring, and just stared at the screen, Sakura was really confused.

"Are you coming down to fight or are you just going to waste my time?" Sakura only faintly heard the voice from down below, she was a little to focused on staring at Kiba looking scared out of his whits –certainly this was a once in a life time sight.

"I forfeit!" He called out gripping the edge of the arena bars so tight his knuckles turned white.

"What? Kiba why would you forfeit?" She called and his response was just a shaky pointing at the screen. Following his line of vision she saw the name of his opponent was Gaara. **(5)**"So?" She asked. As much as she didn't want to see her two friends battling, she didn't understand how it being Gaara made Kiba back off. He had just shook his head and said she wouldn't understand.

She looked in the arena when she heard a scoff coming from Gaara. "What a pathetic waste of space." He called before disappearing in a swirl of sand to reappear in the stands across from them. Sakura, for one, was shocked he'd say that. That wasn't something she thought she'd hear Gaara ever say it was just… mean. And the look on his face when he looked at Kiba, like he was so beneath him. She looked questioningly at Hinata who was to her right. She looked up at Sakura and then back down at the ground.

"Still the sweetest guy you ever met?" Naruto shouted from her left. "What a jerk! I can't believe he would say that. I mean sure Kiba's being a real coward but still!"

"Be quiet Naruto." She said quietly before glancing at the screen to see who would fight next. The next battle did nothing to lift her mood.

Neji – The Hyuga prodigy who always spoke of destiny – was up against Hinata. Sakura knew they were related because of their last names, that much was obvious. However, she was unaware of the bad blood that ran between Hinata and her cousin, and the way Neji seemed to just…_hate _her. She gripped the bar tightly and unhappily, she could tell Neji would be ruthless the way he was already beginning to play with her mind, throwing her inner thoughts in her face. At first it seemed like Hinata was just going to give up, but luckily Naruto called out to her and she snapped out, ready to put up a fight.

Sakura cheered her friend on along with Naruto, watching in anticipation as the two fought each other in their gentle fist style – almost like a dance. She thought Hinata had hit him but… she had no chakra in her arm – Neji had hit her arm's chakra points before so her blow was ineffective to him.

Sakura's body began to shake as she watched her dear friend get beat on by Neji, still standing to fight until the very end. Her throat was swelling as she watched the match until her friend finally collapsed on the ground, spitting up blood. She even still tried to fight, only to end up in the same position a few times before she finally stood one last time, made a comment about how Neji was the one all torn up about the fate of their family and then Neji rushed forward in anger, surely about to kill her.

"HINATA!" Sakura called jumping down to be by her friend's side as Neji charged towards the younger girl. She felt the pounding of blood in her ears, she had to stop this… but before she could do anything to stop Neji, Gai, Hayate, Kurenai and Kakashi were there holding him back. So she just ran past them to Hinata's side, feeling Naruto and Lee on her heels. Hinata was going to tell them she was okay when all of a sudden a pained look came on her face and she fell to the ground.

Sakura and Naruto fell by her side and Kurenai went on her other to see if she was okay.

"Hey Losers." Neji called out to them. "Some advice: if you want to be shinobi stop the disgraceful cheering. And second once a failure always a failure. You can't change what you are."

Sakura's eyes went wide at the statement as she stared down at her unconscious friend. Again… she couldn't do anything to protect someone she cared about. Even in the forest when she was about to die, the sound ninja girl would have been able to fight if by some chance Sakura's last ditch effort had missed, and her sacrifice wouldn't have protected anyone. Why did this keep happening! Why did she keep failing!? Was Neji right? Would she never be able to protect the people she loved?

No. She refused to accept that. She refused to say that was her fate. Naruto seemed to agree to that thought as he defiantly charged to attack Neji only to have Lee stop him so he wouldn't get disqualified. She was grateful that Lee, as funny as the bushy browed kid was, was able to keep Naruto in check.

Their heads whipped around quickly when they heard Hinata cough and Sakura could see the blood spurt from her mouth. Sakura's hands began to shake when Kurenai stated Hinata didn't have a pulse. Hinata was taken to the infirmary as quickly as possible, and as soon as Sakura broke out of her shocked stupor she turned her furious gaze to Neji.

"Shut up you and your destiny crap!" She shouted. "You can't say someone will always stay the same! They can change you're not the one who gets to decide THEY do!" She seethed and stalked towards him, "If they believe themselves to be strong then they WILL be strong! If they believe they will succeed then they can!" Her fist clenched at her side. "I'll prove it! Because next time, I don't care what's going on, I won't let the people I love get hurt anymore! I vow that **I** will change, so that I can be a protector and defender! I will succeed!"

There was a pause.

"What a stupid goal." The Hyuga scoffed. "It's impossible and it will always be impossible. How do you expect to protect everyone you care about when in this tournament _you_ will probably end up _fighting_ a person you care about?" He looked down and smirked cockily. "Will you just give up then? How pathetic."

She froze as he walked away. He had a point, she hadn't thought of that. What if she did end up fighting one of them? Naruto and Ino was still in the running after all… what would she do then? Treat it like sparring? Yeah.. she supposed. All she could do was grit her teeth and wait for the next match.

And low and behold it was the two who had been chanting that they wanted to fight this entire time. Uzumaki Naruto V Rock Lee.

That was certainly an interesting battle to say the least. They both had great speed but Naruto was having a hard time keeping up so he used his Shadow clone Jutsu to confuse Lee and just to throw shuriken and kunai where he assumed lee would go. He didn't land any hits with weapons but eventually got a few punches. However, Lee then released his ankle weights and was faster then ever. No one could even see where he was! Combine that with his lotus technique and everyone thought Naruto was down for the count until they realized he had replaced himself with a shadow clone he had left hidden in the shadow of the arena walls. Of course Lee was shocked and Naruto kept proclaiming that he would never turn his back on a fight and created more shadow clones. Lee was still raring to go although the lotus had done a physical toll on him. Naruto and his clones tossed Shuriken and Kunai and charged forward, Lee dodging them fairly easily before going forward to take out all the Naruto's, to find none of them were the real Naruto, they were all clones. It was then Naruto appeared to be one of the Shuriken that had been thrown earlier, just like in the battle with Zabuza. He was able to get a few kicks and punches in, catching Lee of guard and striking him from behind.

He used his multi-shadow clone jutsu to fill the room with at least 50 of him before attacking again. It took a while for Lee to get his bearings back and by then they were both pretty tuckered out, both never wanting to give up, both striving to win. Lee even unleashed the inner gates to try beat Naruto who was only making more and more shadow clones. It was then he got the idea to apply chakra to his feet to speed him up and help dodge some of Lee's attacks, pure luck is what it was. It was obvious his body couldn't take much more of it, as soon as Lee kicked him into the air it was impossible for Naruto to defend himself and was soon lying still on the ground.. When Lee could no longer sustain the gates he stood opposite the motionless Naruto, both of them unable to move. Hayate was about to declare Lee the winner when Naruto began to move until he was sitting up, equal with Lee. Both had such a fighting spirit, it seemed no matter how many blows you land on them or how many times you knock them down they just get right back up.

They both struggled towards each other and tried to do a feeble punch that only succeed in their fists hitting each other, them falling to the ground, and the match ending in a tie.

They were taken to the infirmary, where it was learned Lee would need a lot of rest and some healing to repair the torn muscles before he got better but he would eventually recover. Same went for Naruto but he seemed to not need as much medical attention because of his body's miraculous healing ability, so he was brought back to the stands to rest.

It didn't take him all that long to wake up either. He was awake right after Chouji finished his battle with the last sound ninja. It only took about a minute for the guy to knock Chouji out, the poor cowardly guy. She knew he was awake when she heard something jump up from behind her and exclaim "OH MAN DID I LOSE!"

"It was a tie." She informed him, gently, giving him a cautious look, expecting the outburst.

"Ah man this sucks! How will I ever beat Sasuke if I couldn't even beat Bushy brow!" He whined when he had rejoined her at the stands.

"Hey its alright Naruto! Lee beat Sasuke too remember? And he's just really fast I'm sure with a little work you could match him no problem!" Sakura patted him on the shoulder. "Cheer up!"

"Sakura?" Naruto turned to her looking up with pleading eyes. "You know what would make me cheer up?"

She sweat dropped, worried about the answer. "What… exactly would that be?"

"If you gave me a hug!" He reached his arms out and tried to latch onto her but she stuck her arms out to keep him at a distance.

"DOWN BOY!" She said keeping him at arms length, unable to raise a hand to hit him without leaving an opening for him to latch her into a hug. That was until Ino came to her rescue, hitting him on the side of his head. He was knocked out for about a second before jumping back up to yell at Ino. Wow, did he bounce back fast, even after becoming completely exhausted he was able to have all this energy just a few minutes later. She exchanged a glance at her friend before they burst out laughing at Naruto's ridiculousness.

"This isn't the time to be laughing." Kakashi commented.

"Will the last two please come forward." Hayate asked. Sakura then realized that she hadn't fought yet, getting to caught up in watching all the other fights she hadn't been keeping track of who was left and was curious to see who else it was. She jumped gracefully down into the ring and stepped forward, noticing another body jump down beside hers. She turned to look and her green eyes meet equally wide blue ones as she stared head on at her best friend.

This was going to suck.

Reluctantly the two took up their places and got into a fighting stance. Sakura was treating it like light sparring, she didn't want to hurt Ino, so she wasn't going to go all out. In fact, she didn't even throw any punches, she was just dodging. Unfortunately this made Ino really angry.

"COME ON FIGHT ME ALREADY BILLBOARD BROW! STOP TOYING WITH ME!" She shouted, aiming for a kick to the gut but only getting air. Sakura jumped away and got a two yard radius from her friend. Her face was conflicted as she stared at the angry blonde.

"I'm not toying with you Ino, I just don't want to hurt you." Boy was that the wrong thing to say. Ino looked like Sakura had just slapped her.

"So what? You don't think I'm strong enough to face you in a fair fight!?" She flung her arms in the air in a fit, her nose scrunched up in anger. Sakura glanced at the ground before looking directly into Ino's eyes and telling her the truth.

"If you want me to be honest with you, then no I don't think you can yet." Ino looked like she had just had the wind knocked out of her. "I know you've improved Ino really, but its not like I've been sitting back and you've only actually seen my chakra control not my actual ninjutsu, I just don't want you to get hurt." Sakura desperately tried to explain what she meant, making her voice come out quickly

"YEAH! I haven't seen everything! How could I when you wouldn't let anyone near you! Heck no one _wanted_ to go near you! You were so creepy!" She huffed, still flailing her arms around angrily. "The only reason you're any good is because you were an emotionless FREAK who could only focus on her parents death and getting strong enough to kill her parents killer for FOUR years!" Okay now THAT was below the belt. Sakura was pissed of now too.

"That was a long time ago! I fight for something different now!" She defended.

"Yeah, Yeah you fight so you can 'be strong enough to fight by a certain someone's side'" She retorted in a lovey dovey voice, batting her eyelashes and holding her hands to her face in a swooning way. "But oh wait, I forgot you're not 'into relationships'." She dropped her pose and spat venom at the pinkette.

"Hey I'm not the one who only became a ninja to impress a boy!"

"At least I'm not hung up on someone I met six fricken years ago who doesn't even remember who I am!" Sakura was appalled by all of this. Ino had NO idea how many lines she was crossing.

"I am NOT hung up over him what is wrong with all you people!" She shouted – fuse blowing. "And at least I'm not chasing a guy I've known all my life who doesn't even realize I exist! Face it Ino you do EVERYTHING for Sasuke its SO ridiculous! You even grew out your hair only because you thought he liked girls with long hair! YOU LIVE your LIFE on whims that are centered around him! And News flash! He doesn't recognize It OR care." If Ino was going to throw all her baggage in her face then Sakura would throw it right back.

Ino screamed. "WHY you little! I do NOT live my entire life by what he likes or doesn't like!" She took out a kunai and raised it up to her long pony tail before promptly slicing through the thick hair and tossing it in Sakura's direction. "Now whose living her life for a guy?!"

"Still you." Sakura stated in a 'duh' kind of manner.

Ino scoffed before putting her hands on her hips and glaring. "Actually I feel really bad for you." Sakura stiffed, already expecting a bad statement to come from this. " I mean, you're so far from being a normal person, not only because of your ridiculous hair color and large forehead but also you're behavior." She gestured one hand out towards Sakura. "I mean maybe you would have turned out normal if you hadn't wasted half your life focused on killing a person you'd never met before. Isolating yourself from everyone else." She returned to her evil disposition again. "I guess you were just doing us all a really big favor though cause you kept us all away from you and your creepy ass personality!"

"THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO!" She screeched out, while inside, her heart was breaking. Ino was really hurtful when she was angry and right now Sakura didn't know if she was saying these things only to hurt her but or if she was saying the truth. "I made a mistake to do that! I apologized didn't I! Besides its different now, I'm fighting to protect you! To protect Naruto and Sasuke and Hinata and everyone I care about!" She whispered the next part, dropping her loud voice. "Please Ino I don't want to hurt you."

"I never asked for your protection and no one else did either! Stop acting all self righteous and like you're so much better then me!" She took her head band off of her waist and went to tie it on her forehead. "If you really want to help me like you claim then fight me for real." Sakura remembered that. Remembered the day they got their headbands and made a pact that they would only tie it in the right way once they had become real ninja. Was this really the time? She had to think about it.

She knew the day was coming when she had to fight someone she loved and it was the day she was dreading the most. Then again, all ninja had to battle their loved ones at one point or another didn't they? Yes, she supposed this was the deciding factor that would finally make her a real ninja.

"FINE! If that's what you want." She undid the headband from her hair to tie it tightly around her own forehead. "I'm not going to go easy on you."

"That's all I ask."

In an instant its like the fight was just starting. Ino charged first, Sakura easily being able to block and dodge, scoring hit after hit against her blond friend.

_Dodge right punch, block round house kick, grab punch pull Ino forward and deliver my own inverted punch to gut, head-butt her, Knee her face so that she stumbles back a little, then a side kick to the stomach_. Her friend was successfully thrown across the field. Though she said she was going to go all out, she wasn't planning on using any ninjutsu. Only taijutsu, she had to save her ninjutsu for the finals and she wanted to give Ino at least a fighting chance. **(6) **She didn't hit her friend with all her strength either, had she done that then Ino would need some serious facial reconstruction and probably would have never been able to each solid food again.

Ino was laying on her side, bangs covering her face before she pressed her hands to the ground to push herself back up. It seemed to take longer then it should but none the less she got off the ground albeit a bit shaky. They were two yards away from each other again. Ino looked Sakura right in the face and smiled.

"That all you got forehead?" She mocked, but Sakura could tell Ino was far worse for ware after taking only a couple of those hits. She herself was unscathed.

"You still want more?" She clenched her fists and was about to charge forward when she realized something. She couldn't move her feet. "What the?" Glancing down she saw Ino's hair at her feet, leading in a glowing blue line all the way back to Ino. "No way." Great now she was stuck and Ino had her hands set to use the mind transfer jutsu. She gritted her teeth. Forming some hand seals of her own she created a wind clone to charge for Ino right when Ino used her jutsu. It was a race now.

Ino made it first, entering the body of Sakura that was stuck in Ino's hair trap.

"NO SAKURA!" Naruto shouted as the body Ino took over smirked and was about to get rid of the clone before it reached her real body. When said clone turned back to smirk at her.

"Sorry Ino, but, that's not me." Then the Sakura Ino too over puffed away into wind, leaving the soul to laze around until it could enter the body again. Sakura, now at Ino's side, brought a Kunai to her friend's neck, and was declared the winner.

"Woah Sakura what did you do!" Naruto asked.

"Nothing much, I just created a clone to substitute with my real body, she didn't notice because she activated her jutsu right when I did. After that I just got rid of the clone." She shrugged and helped Ino stand up when her soul re-entered her body.

"Thanks." The blonde muttered before they both began to head to the middle of the room. Sakura was going to stay down there where the other winners would join her while the ones who lost the preliminaries stayed in the stands. Before Ino left she looked at the ground and turned to Sakura. "About what I said… I'm sorry… that was way out of line, and actually I really was scared for you those years ago and I was… so happy when you came back." Sakura smiled at her friend.

"I know Ino, and I'm sorry too. For what I said and for underestimating you. You actually almost had me." She admitted. That made Ino smile and look up at her.

"And next time I WILL get you!" The two laughed as Ino went back to her original spot and the fellow winners joined Sakura below, where the Hokage had them draw ballets. This turned out to pick who they were facing in a tournament, although Shikamaru questioned if there would only be one winner the Hokage explained it just gave you more chances for your skills to be assessed but the winner of the tournament didn't necessarily become a Chunin. With that they all drew slots.

* * *

Gaara had watched all the exams with faint interest, only really gauging their skills. The Hyuga boy seemed like a strong competitor and obviously he wanted to fight Sasuke – not only because his inner demon would appreciate the blood of the prodigy, but also because he was a threat to taking Sakura away. Sakura's own cheering gave him interest when the young Hyuga girl fell, obviously another emotional attachment that needed to be severed, as well as with that Naruto kid, the way he tried to throw himself on her made Gaara's sand rage violently. As the Chunin exams went on he could feel Shukaku calling out for blood, and because he didn't get to fight do to his opponent being a coward, he was in a particularly bad mood.

Sakura's own battle got his emotions riled up, seeing as everything that blonde girl was yelling at her, the look of pain and anger Sakura had at the things Ino said. He had been interested hearing about her past, how she had been 'an emotionless freak' as Ino put it, and trained hard all the time. He felt satisfaction at the fact that part of the reason she worked so hard was to be able to be by his side – he definitely approved of that. However, knowing the other reason was to kill her parent murderer was not something he was too happy with so that goal being left in the past made him feel better. But her plan and vow to protect those she loved… would that mean she picked them? Only time would tell, but either way he was beginning to see her as his, even though nothing much had progressed between them since the night on the fourth day.

When it was all over they drew slots to see who they would be fighting. He almost felt like twitching his mouth in a sadistic smile when he saw he'd be fighting Uchiha – to kill two birds with one stone. He wasn't to happy Sakura was fighting an extra round – first the sound ninja and then Neji. Kankuro was going to fight Shino while Temari was going to fight Shikamaru.

Things would get interesting soon.

* * *

Sakura was Royally pissed off as she punched a large dent into the wall.

Kakashi had just blown her off because he 'needed' to train Sasuke. MAN Sasuke this Sasuke that, whether it was fan girls or the teachers pet it was always Sasuke. Sure she was worried about the guy and sure she's been training on her own for as long as she could remember but HEY sometimes she wished to have someone experienced actually teach her something instead. A position in which Kakashi was obviously not going to fill.

"Sakura-chaaaannnn!" Naruto called out as he ran up to her about to grip her in a vice like hug before she hit him upside the head and he fell, twitching, to the ground. "Why Sakura? Why do you have to be so cruel?" She turned to leave and he immediately bolted up. "Hey WAIT!" He raced to catch up to her as she stormed off. "What has you so angry Sakura?" She rounded on him, knowing he wasn't the source of her anger but not being able to control her fury's target.

"I'm angry because baka Kakashi refuses to help me train! He's to busy with Sasuke!" She huffed before beginning to storm off again.

"Wait Sakura why don't I just help you train!" He called out trying to catch up to her again.

"Look, its not that I don't appreciate it but I don't want to practice stuff I already know, I want to have someone besides me and more experienced then me actually teach me something for a change!" She let out before storming off for the last time, Naruto just staring after her before a grin broke out on his face.

"I KNOW! I'll find Sakura a teacher and then she'll beg to go on a date with me!" He rubbed his hands together before taking off.

* * *

It was by pure coincidence on his epic journey to find Sakura teacher – he found one for himself instead. He just happened to be passing by the bathhouse when he found a man peeking on the girl's baths and reprimanded him by calling him a perv. Which he was later corrected to pervy sage after the wild white haired man explained he was 'the great toad sage Jariah' Naruto, not knowing what a sage was, prodded to learn more and upon hearing of his rank began to beg the old man to teach him some stuff – this would be an excellent way to beat Sasuke! It took a LONG time and a sexy jutsu to get the old perv to focus but Naruto was finally getting some training in, he was going to learn to summon a toad!

He forgot about Sakura….

* * *

Meanwhile in the course of two weeks, Sakura was busy training her butt off, She needed to expand her chakra if she was going to be able to use her complicated ninjutsu's. She worked on storing chakra, building her endurance, and practice how long she could hold out certain jutsu. She worked on her range for her wind shuriken. And found out how to encase herself in a dome of earth for protection, although it took a second or two to put up so wasn't as fast as just activating a wind prison around herself, it might just come in handy one day. She worked on using Chakra to manipulate the earth and the wind, but after it all she still didn't feel like it was enough. Maybe she did just need a sparing partner, and hey, might as well take Naruto up on his offer. Why go lone wolf? That's something the idiot Sasuke did.

And Thus she made her long journey through all of Konoha searching for the blonde idiot, asking everyone she knew where he could possibly be and getting nothing. Finally she just huffed outside Ichiraku's as the sun was setting, sighing as she ordered some water – not being allowed to stay unless she selected either a beverage or meal.

"Say have you guys se-"

"PERVY SAGE! This is great you're really gonna teach me the shortcut to summoning a big toad!" Sakura recognized that voice and irritatedly lifted her tired head from the table as the curtain of the ramen bar swung open to reveal Naruto followed by some old man with white hair. "And you're treating me to Ichiraku too! You really are the best!"

"NARUTO!" Sakura jerked up from her seat and hit the boy upside the head. He clutched his throbbing noggin.

"OWWWW! That sounded like Sakura-chan and that most certainly _felt _like Sakura." He glanced up into the emerald-eyed fury that was her gaze and a grin broke out on his face as he tried to hug her, "Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!" He chanted like a little kid. Just like she did when he tried this at the preliminaries, she pushed him back by his head at arms length as a vain pulsed on her head. And just like at the Preliminaries it was Ino that came to her rescue.

"Well well well, how are you too love birds doing." Sakura looked at her best friend after hearing the voice. Ino stood there holding the curtain with one hand and in the other was a package of flowers. "I was passing through on my way to make a delivery when I heard Naruto's irritating voice screaming 'Sakura-chan' I just had to see what kind of mess you were in forehead girl." Sakura smirked at her friend.

"Nothing I could handle without you. Thanks." Ino smirked right back and, deciding the delivery could wait, the four sat down to enjoy a meal. It was then Sakura learned Naruto was learning how to summon an animal and she really wanted to try too but the pervy man she found out was a Toad sage named Jiriah said she didn't have enough chakra to complete it and that she probably wouldn't have enough for many years. This upset her, Naruto had enough and she'd been working on expanding her Chakra since she was 6, how could this be. She would just have to work harder, but at least she knew Naruto could take care of himself, although she became worried when she heard Jiriah mention something about "This meal might be his last." She shrugged it off and started up a conversation with Ino.

"So where have you been? I haven't seen you for two whole weeks not even to come to bed. Are you sleeping in that tree again, or perhaps your indulging in some kind of forbidden romance with a certain sand nin?" Ino bumped her shoulder playfully into Sakura's arm. "You know, like him rescuing you from near death for the fourth time or carrying all the way to a battle tower, refusing to leave you in unfit hands?" Sakura blushed dark crimson at hearing this, although the likes of which she didn't know why.

"Stop talking nonsense I was training! Where did you hear all that anyway?" She yelled at her grinning friend who raised her arms in a sign of surrender.

"Hey, don't blame me, it was those other two sand ninja who stopped to look at the flowers at the shop. They were talking about how startled they were when their brother came flying past them with a dead body in tow, only to find out it wasn't dead and it was a girl. A Girl with pink hair that Gaara wouldn't let them even get close to touching." She shrugged. "They were just talking about what happed during the Forest of death with each other but I just so happened to overhear them."

"Well whatever. Like I said, I've been training although I did just waste a whole day looking for Naruto." Sakura rested her cheek in her palm and sighed, to exhausted to fight Ino about whatever 'romantic indulgences' supposedly happened between her and the red head. She figured tonight would be the night she either fell asleep willingly or just passed out.

"Why would you be looking for him?" Ino asked, her nose scrunching up.

"I needed someone to spar with, practicing on my own isn't going to cut it when I need to actually fight some people, and not just some simplistic tricks. I was hoping Naruto and his shadow clones would give me a lot of people to fight, and using my own clones wastes to much Chakra and I can only do it for taijutsu since making my clones know ninjutsu would wear me dry in no time." She banged her head on the Ichiraku bar.

"That is quiet the predicament." Ino said, observing her friend. "Tell you what, two days from now I get the day off from the shop, why don't you rest for two days and then the next day I'll help you train." She smiled as Sakura looked gratefully at Ino. "I know I can't do clones and I might not fight as well as you but I think I can whip up something special that even you'll feel is a challenge to spar."

"Sounds good." Sakura stated, fire returning to her eyes as she sat up strait again and clenched her fist in a determined manner.

"Oh! And tomorrow at my lunch break why don't we go visit Sasuke at the hospital?" Sakura's eyes widened when Ino said this and a new found fury returned to her.

"HE'S AT THE HOSPITAL! THAT LYING LITTLE BRAT OF A SENSEI!" She stood up abruptly and in one gulp scarfed down the rest of her ramen before leaving the premises, forgetting to pay. Ino quickly followed after her. "I HAVE TO TRAIN SASUKE! I'M BUSY WITH SASUKE! YEAH RIGHT TRY TRAINING A HOSPITALIZED PERSON!" She fumed as Ino trailed behind her, jogging to catch up to Sakura's speed walk. People giving the girl's funny stares.

"Sakura! Wait up!" Ino called dashing after her.

Meanwhile Naruto just finished his eleventh bowl at the Ramen stand and was about to turn to the Pervy sage to thank him for the meal when he saw empty air beside him. The owner of the ramen stand looked expectantly at him holding out their hands for money and smiling. Naruto sweat dropped and turned to ask Sakura and Ino for help only to see more empty air. More sweat formed on his face as he pulled out his wallet. _WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME SAKURA! I EXPECTED THIS FROM PERVY SAGE AND THE MEAN INO GIRL BUT YOU?_

"I HAVE NO MORE MONEY!"

* * *

The next day went just as planned. Sakura spent most of the day just resting in a nice shady tree of Konoha that was in the Yamanaka backyard, a toothpick in her mouth after she just finished a sandwich.

She sighed in contentment liking the feeling of being lazy and finally understanding what Shikamaru felt when he stared at the clouds. Although she would never wish to just be pulled where she was taken as her lazy friend did, she was more of a go getter like Ino and Naruto, someone who chose for themselves what to do even if they had to fight the wind.

"Sakura! Come one lets get going I only have a 40 minute break and that's because I begged!" Sakura opened her eyes slowly and jumped down from the tree to go up the small hill, in the backdoor of the flower shop and out the other way, grabbing \ two lilies as she did so, making sure to give Ino the money to pay for them. Ino herself grabbed a rose.

"Why'd you take two flowers?" Ino asked as they were walking towards the hospital – a good ten-minute walk at that.

"One for Sasuke and the other one for Hinata." Ino's eyes widened in recognition. "You knew she was hospitalized after her battle with Neji right? Apparently her heart still isn't in the best shape so their making sure she gets some rest and they're monitoring her condition. For now it seems she's stable but still needs rest." Sakura explained.

Although she had been very busy training she made sure to keep up to date on her white eyed friend's condition when she came through town for food. She would just ask around to see what was heard, and her main resource was the owner of the dango shop, who seemed to know everything about everyone. Plus… she had Dango…

"Poor Hinata" Ino whispered as they finally approached the hospital doors.

Turns out Sasuke wasn't in his room which didn't surprise Sakura all that much and made her feel less angry at Kakashi seeing as he was at least busy with something after all. They both visited Hinata next, who was awake and eager, in her own Hinata – eager – way , for conversation which the other two girls supplied more then happily. Gradually she was improving, although she slept a lot of the time. Sakura was relieved her dear friend was fine, that Kakashi technically hadn't lied to her and that all seemed to be at peace. Things were bright, right, and happy.

Little did either of them know it wouldn't be the same tomorrow.

* * *

**Basically he feels he has not choice but to care about her because he can't put it aside to kill her the way it is now. However, he thinks if she were to do something that would make him feel like she's sided against him he believes that would give him the ability to end her. **

**Gaara is basically possessive over her – like how he didn't like the idea of Sasuke and Naruto being closer to her. Because she's the only one he's letting in he doesn't want anything to happen to her and feels he's the only one who can protect her. (This idea is only strengthed by the fact that She got hurt and her nearly died while her team was no where in sight.) He doesn't really trust anyone with her. That and he wants to keep her close to him for as long as he possibly can.**

**Put this quote here just because I find it interesting and poetic in a creepy way. Can you tell that by putting Sakura down his blood lust his back? Yeah…. **

**So Gaara basically feels a need to have her with him and she is the only person he really actually cares about what happens to her so to reach his goal it doesn't matter by what means he has to do it. He also figures that it will only hurt her emotionally a little bit and that she'll get over it, but if she picks them over him he believes he'll be able to kill her too and then it really wouldn't matter. (Note that I said he BELIEVES not that he can) Basically he want to cut her emotional ties to other people so that only he is left.. **

**Okay so I chose for Gaara to face someone who knew what he was capable of and not fight him – because lets face it, if Sakura saw Gaara injury Lee mercilessly the way he did then she probably would avoid him for a while and then Gaara in his unstable emotional state would take it as a rejection and the whole thing will fall apart, That's why she doesn't see his full strength until later.**

**Okay I KNOW she sounds really arrogant but the truth is, the sakura I've been writing far exceeds Ino because she's been working so hard since she was 6. She, in the anime and this story, was easily able to master chakra control like it was second nature and thus able to learn jutsu far easier then normal people. She's already at like 10% her chakra infused punching and kicking state from shippudden so no matter how arrogant it may be coming across as it's the sad truth for Ino to face. **

**NEXT TIME ON AN ALL NEW: WHAT FATE BRINGS FORTH! (Que naruto music.)**

Hinata - life on the line

Sakura hears the truth

Sasuke's deadly challenge

**Found out in the next chapter: **The final Test & Attack on the leaf!


	10. The Final Test and Attack on the Leaf!

**Sooo… hey everyone… this is awkward because its been so long but I've finally updated, 50 poorly written pages but updated none the less. I really have absolutely no excuses but my lack of inspiration to write, I knew what I wanted to do with the story I just had no motivation to continue it because I already know everything that happens in my head….. But I think I owe it to you all to finish this. So I'm not saying I'll update frequently but I'll try to make sure I don't have such a long period of time in between my updates…. Anyway I have to go to bed now sooooo… bye….. **

**I don't expect you all to still be there but if you are – thank you for not giving up on me and I'm in no place to do so, but I ask for your patience! Thank you! **

**Chapter 10: The final test and Attack on the leaf!**

The moonlit sky shown over Konoha, full and bright. Gaara stared up at it, feeling Shukaku raging within him wishing for blood. He closed his eyes as he calmed the spirit. _Just one day. _He reminded it. _One day and then I'll feed you the blood of the Hyuga girl, mother._ His sand shot up as an attack came from the right. _Or perhaps…. Now will do. _He slowly opened his eyes to stare down his new opponent , not even bothering to turn his head.

When he lay his eyes on the enemy he felt he had to hold himself back from crushing him. It was a sound Ninja. Sound Ninja were the ones that attacked Sakura. On to that: this one was the one she had to fight in two days. The fact he just so happened to be the one that was going to fight his cherry blossom was pure bad luck, but this ninja had attacked him first and that was a death wish in itself. He didn't bother to listen to the ninja's little speech simply crushed him in a simple painless death, much like that girl, Hinata, would receive tomorrow.

He breathed in deeply, relishing in the blood soaked sand and purr he could feel coming from his demon. Briefly he wondered what Sakura would think after she found out her friend was dead, it would likely not be well received, so it was all the more apparent that she couldn't know he killed her. It would have to be an unnoticeable death, perhaps stopping her heart with his sand? Her heart was the reason she was in the hospital in the first place so it wouldn't be a shock to anyone and ultimately the other Hyuga would be pinned for the murder. Sakura would get over it. _**Although it'll be interesting to see her fiery side come out when she thinks the Hyuga boy killed the girl. **_Shukaku chuckled within his mind. _**I can already image her trying to kill him. **_Gaara felt something inside him at the thought of Sakura acting like that, part of him felt mirth at seeing her bloodthirsty, how much more it would match him, but another part didn't want to see it at all. His Sakura was an innocent flower and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible. But as much as he didn't want to taint her, he wanted to be with her even more then that. It couldn't be helped, the only thing he could do is hide his nature from her until she was ready for it.

He stared up at the moon again. _Ah yes. This is interesting._

**The next Day**

Sakura caressed the flower in her hands as she came to the entrence of the hospital. Another flower for Hinata, since Sakura assumed Sasuke wouldn't be there – again. Ino wasn't able to come this time – not being able to get a break from work she claimed, although the explanation was a tad bit suspicious to Sakura. Now she was here alone going to visit her shy friend hoping she was doing better, plus she heard that Naruto was in the hospital of which she blamed that strange sage man he had been with at Ichiraku.

She stepped into the building and to her surprise it was completely empty. The front desk had a note that said "out to lunch". It was curious to Sakura that EVERYONE in the hospital was taking a lunch break at the exact same time, but despite the ominous feeling there was technically no rules sating she couldn't visit her friends and she had no problem looking up the room numbers herself. So that's what she did. As her eyes skimmed down the paper she felt a shiver run down her spin, it felt like someone was watching her, standing behind her. Out of paranoia she turned to check and make sure she wasn't insane, but there was no one there. She shivered once more. _Guess I'm just crazy._ After checking however, she skimmed through the list quicker and hurried her way to the room Hinata was in.

"Hinata how are you doing?" She asked as the peeked through the door. She was welcomed by the sight of Hinata's peaceful sleeping face warmed by the steam of sunlight shining through the window. The Hyuga heiress looked like a fallen angle with her dark hair sprawled on the white sheets. Sakura smiled softly at the girl and walked over to the nightstand to change the flower in the vase. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and for a while she waited by the window watching the sakura blossoms fall as she thought over whether or not she should stay. After a long while she decided she was just being insane and she's go check on Naruto really quick before coming back. _Stop being so Crazy Sakura, she's going to be perfectly fine. _She stepped out of the room and shut the door slowly behind her before making her way down the hall, towards Naruto's room.

**Gaara's POV**

He saw her.

It was pure coincidence that she was visiting her friend at the exact same time that he was going to kill said friend. He would have been here earlier had it not been for all the people here. He had to make this discrete, after all. He was just lucky everyone happened to take their lunch breaks at the same time. _The_ _Idiots. _

She just _had_ to show up at the same time.

It was infuriating.

However, she did lead him straight to the girl's room and … he was able to watch her there, lovely pink tresses blowing in the breeze as she stared at her namesake. He wanted so badly to join her – it sickened him. He still didn't like this attachment to her, but in a way he did. It was confusing and in all honest he felt better just to not think about it.

No. What he would think about was killing the Hyuga. And as Sakura closed the door, a concerned and troubled look crossing her features before leaving, he was left with the perfect opportunity to do so.

He slipped in silently, his sand swirling anxiously in his gourd, Bloodlust radiating in every grain. Yes. This would do quiet nicely.

The cork popped, sand spilled out and began to swirl around, climbing up from the floor to the bed, encircling the young girl in a rough embrace, coming over her mouth and nose…

**Shikamaru's pov**

_I wish I was a cloud. Just floating on the breeze going to wherever life would take me. _Shikamaru listened to the trickling sand in the hour glass and he positioned another piece on the shoji board. _That'd be a lot better then waiting for this dolt to wake up. _His brow twitched as he looked at the sleeping Naruto. It didn't' take long for his wish of his blond knuckleheaded friend to wake up to come true, before he knew it Naruto was destroying the entire room in search of his clothes, saying that he can't waste time sleeping when he should be training to get stronger then Sasuke. After that little episode was over the idiot got a once in a life time bright idea – of which Shikamaru had the luck of getting to see – of taking the fruit that Choji wasn't aloud to eat, and devouring it in front of the indigestion-suffering man. Of course for the first time and probably the last time that Shikamaru would ever agree with the number one knucklehead ninja, he praised Naruto and they took off to find Chouji.

However, despite the idle chitchat coming from the blonde beside him, there was somewhat of an ominous presence when they passed one of the doors. It was so chilling even the dopy blonde shut up. It was a heart pounding, murderous intent, and although every fiber in their being screamed to run as far away from there as possible, and although Shikamaru was tempted to do just that, he knew that wasn't the right move. The door that the presence was coming from was slightly agar and the nurses never left the doors open…

"Shikamaru…." Naruto spoke hesitantly as the two exchanged worried glances.

"Quiet idiot." He whispered. "We'll take a look inside… I'm sure nothings wrong."

Bullcrap.

They stepped towards the door hesitantly, Shikamaru pushing it open a centimeter more to allow him to look through.

His eyes widened.

The door was shoved open.

The basket of fruit was left sprawled on the floor.

**Sakura's pov**

She's okay

She's okay

STOP BEING AN IDIOT SHE'S OKAY!

These were the only thoughts passing through Sakura's mind as she continued down the hallway to where Naruto's room was supposed to be. No matter how many times she tried to reassure herself, the sinking feeling in her stomach was always there, a constant twisting feeling in her gut. _But what if she isn't fine?_ _Shouldn't I trust my Kunochi instincts?_ Her mind was buzzing, she felt so stupid for feeling this way but she couldn't get the worried look off of her face. _I'll just check on her real quick. _She pivoted her foot and began walking back the way she came, with each step the clenching feeling in her stomach got tighter. _You're being insane. _She started walking faster. _THERE IS NOTHING WRONG! _she broke out into a sprint.

Her feet slowed as she neared the door.

Her heart pounded in her ears.

No one was in the hospital but the patients and her.

Yet the door was ajar.

**Gaara's pov**

Then he was frozen.

His eyes widened slightly before shifting into his infamous glare.

His body moved on its own accord and he knew what was going on before he even saw the cause face to face, so he didn't fight it. His body turned and before his very eyes he was met with the blonde headed idiot from Sakura's team and the genin that used shadow possession in the preliminaries. The blonde kept threatening to beat him up in between demanding what he was doing with Hinata. The shadow wielder was simply trying to get the annoying blonde to shut up while simultaneously trying to think of a plan.

_Pathetic. _

"Shut up." His rough voice broke past the blonde's loud one without even having to be raised.

"What did you say to me bastard!? What are you trying to do to Hinata!" There he went again.

"Isn't it obvious. I was going to kill her." It was a simple statement. To him it was like talking about the whether. To the two in front of him, however, it was like he said something insane like the sky was falling. He wasn't surprised, he had been faced with looks like that all his life, from everyone but one person. Their faces reminded him of this, and that reminded him of why he was here in the first place.

So much for being discrete.

At least that idiot finally shut himself up.

There was a heavy silence in the room and with each second that went by Gaara could feel the slight slip that the shadow possession had over him. It was simply a waiting game.

"W-why?" Naruto was finally able to speak, although still stuttering.

"I have my own reasons, but mostly I just feel like it." He stated. "I'll kill you both too."

"Are you insane? What are you a demon or something?" Shikamaru was the one to speak this time. Gaara felt a dry chuckle rise in his throat. They didn't know the half of it, but because he was going to kill them anyway, why not grace them with his story. He told it to them – he was a jinchuuriki and that means that yes, he was a demon. A Demon that had been killing since the very day he was born. There was another set of silence only broken by the creaking of the slightly open door and a worry strangled voice echoing in the empty halls.

"Hinata, are you ok?!"

All three shinobi in the room turned their attention to the new arrival.

The shadow possession let go at the exact same moment, and as soon as Gaara heard the voice as smooth as bells in his ears, he capped his sand back in the gourd. Less then a tenth of a second after the last grain was safely inside and the room appeared as if nothing had occurred, Sakura's green eyes peered back at the three.

**Sakura (Also half Gaara at the end) Pov**

Sakura had heard some talking, too muffled for her to completely understand. Then as she got closer there was silence. What was going on? Who was in the room, was Hinata alright, was she too late?

She creaked the door open, unable to keep the worry out of her voice as she called out her friends name. What greeted her made her eyes open in surprise, although she relaxed some and a small smile spread instinctively on her face. "Naruto, Shikamaru? What are you doing here?" her head cocked to the side in confusion as she scanned the room. When her eyes landed on the familiar red headed boy her small smile grew into a grin and she appeared completely at ease, everything seemed fine. _Thank goodness I was worried for nothing. I thought Neji came to kill her…._

"Hey Gaara! What are you doing in Hinata's room, I didn't think you knew her." Out of the corner of her eye she could see Naruto's mouth open, but Gaara beat him to the punch.

"I know that she was a close friend of yours, I came to see how she was recovering."

"Don't believe him Sakura it's a lie! He came here to kill her!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura's eyes widened at Naruto's statement, she shifted over to look at him then to Gaara, then back to Naruto again. "Naruto what are you saying, that's ridiculous." She stated, trying to reassure herself more then him. _That can't be the Gaara that saved me so many times… _She looked back at Gaara, her eyes searching for answers in his.

He looked the same, his sea foam eyes gazing gently at her. He looked harmless, although she knew of his immense power. _He's still the same old Gaara_.

Naruto was just playing one of his lame pranks again.

She glanced at the blonde in irritation. "You know ya'knuckle head you really should think before playing jokes like that," She scolded, voice half joking and half serious. He opened his mouth to protest.

"I agree." Gaara cut in. "It is very rude." He crossed the room and stood by Sakura at the door. "Say, I haven't seen all of this town yet, would you mind showing the rest of it to me?" Sakura grinned up at him.

"Sure thing!" She grabbed a hand that had been lying loosely at his side, startling him in the process, but upon hearing her giggling as his normally stoic face slipped into a shocked one, he blushed and gave her a flat look. Inside though he was smiling.

He loved that laugh, that smile. "Knock it off." He said lightly as she pulled him down the halls, and that only made her laugh more.

"Oh!" She stopped laughing all of a sudden. "I know this great dango shop! Remember that time we had dango? Oh you'll just love it!"She continued the excitable chitchat as they made their way out of the hospital and into Konoha's bustling streets. Gaara just listened and commented every now and then. He was happy like this. He was always happiest around Sakura. And somehow, when it was just the two of them he felt…

that she felt the same way too.

**Shikamaru POV**

The two exited the room, leaving only Naruto and him. Her light tenor was heard happily throughout the halls and his gruff replies sometimes echoed back to her.

"What the heck was that… Sakura-chan picked that punk over us… but why?" Naruto for once wasn't talking loudly, he appeared so mystified. He was distraught – that much was clear. However, Shikamaru could see the look in his face was quickly going to change to anger, once he got tired of thinking about it which wouldn't take long, and then the blonde would be back to yelling and trying to take action.

If Shikamaru wanted to talk some sense into him, it would be now or never.

"I'm not sure I understand it myself, but for some reason Sakura is more relaxed around him. Did you see the way she instantly smiled when she saw him? Or even more did you see the way his expression changed when he saw her? The person she knows is not the one we just met. " Shikamaru tried his best to explain what he had just pieced together by the encounter. "Sakura does not seem to see him for what everyone else does, and for some reason clings to this false image, the only question is why? What connection do they have?" He stared intently at the open door and before glancing at Naruto –

"WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED! LETS GO AFTER THEM SHIKAMARU! I HAVE TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO HER!"

So much for that plan.

He winced and held his ears. Why oh dear God WHY did Naruto have to yell _everything_ he says?

"Be quiet moron! There's a patient sleeping if you haven't forgotten!" His harsh whisper was emphasized by the thwack he brought upon his head.

"oww….." Naruto then gazed sadly at him.

Shikamaru was officially creeped out. "What is that look for?"

"Sakura-chan used to do that to me…" He grabbed Shikamaru by his shoulders and began shaking him intensely. "What if that freak kills her?! What if Sakura never hits me again!? How will I live without her daily abuse!?" Shikamaru swore under his breath and shoved the other ninja off of him.

"Stop it you idiot!" He stalked irritated out of the room, mumbling about how everything just goes in one ear and out the other.

"You don't understand! I think this has happened before!" That statement caught Shikamaru's attention, causing him to pause and he nod for Naruto to continue. "When we first met him she said she knew him but he blew her off! Then at the Chunning exams, that Gaara kid had her, and they were talking like they were old friends! I mean yeah he saved her life but he's a murdering maniac!" this was the most serious sentences he had ever heard come from Naruto. His face looked focused, his voice lacking all of his care free personality

"You don't think he's the guy she used to talk about…?"Naruto simply nodded in reply.

"Hey Shikmaru." Naruto's face looked slightly darker, his head a little bowed and his shoulders stiff causing the atmosphere around him to shift into something even more serious then what even Sasuke was capable of. All of this was broken by the presence of his next words "I'M STARVING CAN WE GET SOME RAMEN!"Shikamaru scoffed – and to think this was the same kid from two seconds ago.

"What did I tell you about being quiet!" He rolled his eyes and began to storm back down the hall.

"Wait Shikamaru!" Naruto began to crawl after him. "You have to tell me what to do."

"JUST SHUT UP!"

All around Konoha people turned their heads to the echoing shout in the sky, before shrugging it off and continuing on with their previous business.

**Gaara POV**

So he didn't get to kill Hinata.

So, Shukaku was a bit annoyed at that.

Gaara was still happy –for once- because he was getting to spend time with the very reason he was going to kill the young girl in the first place. This felt much better spent, even his inner demon seemed to not truly mind. Maybe he knew too, knew that this feeling wasn't so bad. It was still disturbing and he was still greatly concerned about who she would choose in the end, but back there, she chose _him._

That was what counted for the moment.

So he was going to enjoy this, all the time he was getting to spend with her right now in this moment. However…

"So I'm pretty curious about the surprise Ino has for me tomorrow, I mean, of course she's going to help me in that Ino-pig way she has, but you can't stop a girl from being curious."

He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about…

"Um… Sakura." The sound of his voice had her blinking her beautiful green eyes at him, giving him her full attention. It still surprised him for someone to treat him like this. "I…what are you talking about exactly?"

"Oh, sorry! I guess I was getting a bit carried away with talking! I was just talking about training for the end of the chunnin exams." She explained. "What are you doing for training?" He shrugged.

"Not much." She rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"You're just like when we were little." Something in his stomach felt twisted as she said that. He felt…off. It was a bad feeling and he was consumed with wanting to tell her the truth – but how could he? What would she think of him then? It was the ever nagging thought in his mind. Eventually she would find out, what then?

What then?

**Sakura POV**

The time Sakura spent with Gaara past quickly and before she knew it, it was the next day, the last day to train before the exams. Ino told her to meet her at the training fields at 5:00, she said they'd get in good training in the morning and finish in the afternoon so that Sakura could recuperate this evening.

She'd been waiting a good 15 minutes, of course she arrived a few minutes early but besides that Ino was usually very punctual. She had no idea what was holding the girl up.

A shuffling in the trees caused her to turn her head. She put her guard up and unsheathed a Kunai, was Ino attempting a sneak attack? There was another shuffling sound so Sakura tossed her weapon. As soon as it made contact with its target, a bird flew out of the way. She relaxed. _Guess not._

She sighed, about to go in search of her late friend when a shuriken blew past her ear catching a few pink locks as it whizzed by. Guard up again, Sakura whipped around and slammed her fist into the tree, causing an orange blur to jump out.

"JEEEZZZZ SAKURA!" It shouted as it landed clumsily on the ground. "Please don't hit me like that…"

"Naruto?"

"That's right! And I'm not going to go easy on you!"

"What?" Sakura barely got the words out of her mouth when she saw another blur- green this time dashing out of the woods on her right. She was barely able to bend out of the way of Lee's kick and he expertly dodge the kick she sent on him as she flipped away from him.

"I am so sorry to do this to you, my precious blossom! But It must be this way so now one harms you during your final test!"

It clicked in her head just then.

_Well well well what a clever Pig we have. _She smirked at her friend's plan. This truly was a surprise and it really would help.

The next attack was absolutely no surprise, the amount of noise the giant ball that was Chouji made as he rumbled towards her was unmistakable. She formed a few hand signs and easily made a ramp from the ground, sending Chouji flying into the shocked Naruto, that had just been standing there since his first attack. '

The two began spatting with each other – something about Chouji suppose to have been in the hospital and something about Ino yanking him out of bed, telling him to suck it up and do this - while Lee began to engage Sakura in more close combat, something she knew she could never beat him in, not with his speed. The entire time she was just dodging and even with that he was getting in good hits. Her only choice was to create distance. She slammed a chakra laden fist downward, Lee jumped back thinking she was aiming for him when she was really aiming for the ground. The biggest crack she ever made began to stretch itself out in front of her, some debris flying at Lee as he tried to scramble away from the crack. It didn't' take long for him to come up with idea of jumping on the oncoming debris and into a tree.

Sakura was getting ready to make some whirlwind shuriken – her previous training made it faster and easy to create them – and guided them towards Lee, when Naruto brought back up his own attacks, his shadow clones suddenly surrounding her. She realized then just how hard this was going to be. It was no longer one on one with each of her friends, it was an everyone-attack-Sakura-party. Thinking on her feet She sent one of three whirlwind shuriken at Lee, with another she sent it to cut through the cloud of Narutos.

She had to dodge at the same time and she was quick to learn that this wasn't going to work, she dropped the jutsu and instead used a substitution. She watched the Narutos charge after the fake her and she stayed at a safe distance, keeping an eye on all three of her enemies – calculating where the best place to strike would be.

Of course it couldn't be that simple.

She was on the defensive again as more kunai were sent her way – this time however she used her own kunai to block them. She stared intently in the direction of the attack, deciding it would be best to keep her three other opponents in check by encasing them in earth prisons. It was only a few seconds before she heard the distinguishable shout from another fellow genin

"FANG OVER FANG"

As soon as it was said, twin Kiba's were charging at her, slashing with claws. She gave a good punch the face of one and simply pushed another into a tree. There was an explosion of earth debris from the training ground that caught Sakura's attention, and she could see Lee had broken out of his prison through brute force, Chouji soon followed using his expansion jutsu - cracking the prison and Naruto escaped his using his many many many shadow clones.

_Crap. _

Dodging. Dodging. All she could get in was dodging and jumping. If she performed a substitution, another of her enemies would just attack her from her new position.

At one point an onslaught of weapons was sent her way, causing her to resort to using a wind prison as a shield. The weapons were deflected in all directions and made a successful scattering of her enemies.

When the shield dissipated, she was presented with another new enemy – Tenten. She was barely able to take a glance at the new arrival before spinning around quickly to deflect a punch sent by none other then Ino.

"You're late Pig" She stated as the two then separated.

"Sorry, but it took a while to round up the rest." Sakura nearly blanched.

"What do you mean the rest?"

"Wellllllll…."

A bug flew past Sakura's line of sight. _Oh no. _Out of the corner of her eye she could see the shadows moving closer to her, forcing her to jump out of its way and straight into the waiting kick of Neji Hyuga. She barely caught her balance as all of the opponents joined her in the clearing. The only two missing were Sasuke and Hinata.

"Holy….."

"Yeah I know." Ino stepped forward, tossing her hair back, a smug grin on her face. "Its impressive. But you wouldn't believe the effort it took to get Shino, Neji and Shikamaru here. Their such secretive people after all. Sadly, if you don't want to give away any of your impressive new moves then you can only use the things you showed in the preliminaries, but its good training for everyone none the less." Sakura couldn't help the grin that came to her face. "

" A free for all."

"Yeah. Well, almost. Its more like A free for all to attack Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru and Shino. Even you guys have to look out for each other."

It was true, Sakura wanted to try out new techniques but there was no way they would have been perfected and most likely would have been chakra absorbing. This on the other hand – this forced her to use what she knew already and use it in interesting and complicated ways to defeat multiple enemies. This may not have been what she wanted, but it was certainly applicable. It was like turning old tricks _into_ new ones.

The battle raged on intensely, for hours, draining every participant. Hits were taken, blood was shed and fatigue began to set in. No one was able to get a break for the longest time, but as it dragged on everyone – Save Naruto – began to take a more strategic approach to attacking – saving energy that way. At one point Naruto and Lee fiercely teamed up against Neji – someone they both hated. And that gave Sakura some time to take on other opponents. She even snuck a good Hit on Neji when he was preoccupied blocking attacks from Naruto and Lee. She simply popped out of the ground and gave him a good upper cut before dashing out of the scene – needless to say he was after her for the rest of the battle to settle the score.

By the end, the sun was setting and everyone was almost completely exhausted. It seemed by the end of it that their friendships were stronger – who would have thought? Trying to pummel each other into the ground strengthened their friendship more then ever. Of course most everyone besides TenTen held a grudge against the ever arrogant Neji – how Ino convinced that stuck up snob to join this she never would know. As they parted he gave a good slug at her arm – defiantly leaving a LARGE bruise but surprisingly it didn't cut off any of her chakra points. His parting words were "That was 1/10 of my payback."

"I still hate you."

"And I still think you're pathetic."

"Dudley noted."

Everyone parted the clearing and all that was left was Sakura and Ino.

"Well, well, well forehead." She whispered into Sakura's ear, causing the pinkete to jump in surprise. "Flirting with the royal ass are you?" Her face flushed and anger boiled inside her. She gave her exhausted friend a good punch in the arm.

"If you ever even insinuate such a disturbing thought again I will personally make sure you die a very early and painful death." Ino held up her hands in the universal 'I surrender' position.

"Chill nelly!" She giggled at her friends infuriated face. "Oh take a joke." She lightly punched her friend back and Sakura decided to let it go and crack a smile. "Besides, - I know you already have a devilish red head wrapped around your finger."

Sakura's face now turned red for an entirely new reason. "I told you that was not –"

"oh realllllyyy? So then what were you two doing yesterday? _Alone. Holding hands." _Sakura simply muttered a shut up, and began stomping her way back to the Yamanaka residence, Ino laughing behind her all the way. They cleaned up, took some chakra replenishing pills and began to relax. They popped in a movie to fall asleep too –Sakura trying to store more chakra while they did so, and had a rare good nights rest before the inevitable epic battle tomorrow.

**The Next Day**

Things were Hectic. The stadium of which the last stage of the Chunin exams would be held was going to be flooded with people soon. Sakura had arrived early with Ino – the others promising they'd see them shortly after.

"Woah." Was the simultaneous phrase the two friends had stated upon their arrival.

"This place is so HUGE!" Ino shouted the word huge and listened as it echoed across the nearly empty stadium. "It's so cool challengers can arrive early before its all filled up."

"Yeah but remember we have some Anbu stalking us, they don't want us to set up any traps to cheat, I swear there are a ton here."

"How would you know forehead."

"Common sense pig. If you were hokage, would you trust rival villages not to cheat to win? Or even everyone in your own village?" Ino opened her mouth to make a statement, thought about it and quickly shut it.

"Okay you have a point, and I suppose the old man hasn't gone senile _quite _yet." Sakura began giggling at that followed by Ino. When the laughter ceased, The two leaned against the railing of the balcony they currently occupied and looked out at the arena. "So why did you want to come so early anyway?"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm not sure, partly to observe the stadium, partly cause I just wanted to and another part because… I have a strange feeling… like something big is gonna happen soon." She laughed softly and rolled her shoulders. "I'm probably just being silly."

"You just got a bunch of nerves – I feel that way too." Sakura glanced at her friend and raised an eyebrow.

"What do you have to be nervous about?"

"I'm nervous for YOU ya' big goof!" Ino socked Sakura in the arm then. Making Sakura mutter a small '_Ow'. _Ino stuck out her tongue "Oh I'm sure that was very painful for you" She joked.

"It was actually, I think my arm may be broken, and I won't be able to compete" Ino started laughing at Sakura's dead serious tone. "I am not joking – this could be a serious injury –" Sakura started giggling half way through "-its –i-its not funny." The two continued laughing for a while longer only to be interrupted by the loudest most annoying voice in all of Konoha.

"OH MY GOSH THIS PLACE IS HUGE!"

"Naruto's here." The two friends gave each other the exact same look as they spoke in unison before turning around.

"Oh my gosh NARUTO that's such a lame thing to say. Be more professional why don't you." Ino started out, using a very stereotypical snobby girl voice. Naruto's face fell slightly and he turned to see how Sakura would input on Ino's little joke.

"Seriously, at least be more creative." Sakura stated tossing her hair over her shoulder. "For example –" One glance at Ino and they both instantly new what to say.

"THIS PLACE IS SO _AMAZINGLY_ HUGE!" Sakura flashed Naruto a smile to let him in on the – admittedly lame- joke, but the blonde just pouted and started exclaiming how it was the exact same thing he said. Then a quiet voice came from the doors corridor.

"I-I…I liked your o-observation very much N-nar-uto-kun." Sakura couldn't believe her ears, she perked her head up instantly, like a meerkat checking for danger outside the burrow. There, standing in the door frame was none other then Hinata Hyuuga.

"HINATA!" Sakura jumped across rows of chairs to reach her friend and embrace her in a soft yet strong grip, as if she was held to hard she'd shatter but at the same time not wanting to let her go. Hinata returned the hug tightly. "You're out of the hospital! Is that even aloud!? Are you all better?! When did you get out!?" Hinata was overwhelmed but giggled none the less at the barrage of questions.

"Geez forehead you're acting like the blonde dope over there." Ino joined them and Sakura pulled back from the shy girl. Ino then glumped her in a new hug. "Hey how are you kid? Is everything alright?" Ino pulled back and held Hinata at arms length, observing her up and down. "You sure your allowed out, aren't you still hurt? Are you gonna pass out?" Ino's questions may have lacked a certain degree of volume, but the worry and rapid fire pass of the interrogation was possibly faster then Sakura's.

"And _I'm _the one that sounds like Naruto." Sakura muttered and rolled her eyes.

"You guys do know I'm right here right!" The blonde exclaimed.

"And as loud as ever." Shikamaru's voice announced his presence behind Hinata making the three girls in front of him jump in surprise.

"I expected better out of ninja. If you're going to call yourselves shinobi then you should be aware of your surroundings at all times."

"Oh good you brought the prig with you." Ino stated.

"And here I was worried the world would stop spinning without his presence in our lives." Sakura added.

"Oh haha." Neji stated, stepping out of the shadows, Lee and TenTen by his side. "What are you lot doing here so early anyway."

"Same reason you are. Scoping out the battlefield." Sakura stated, arms crossed and a foot away from the Hyuuga boy. Upon his arrival she had slipped herself in front of Hinata to guard her from her cousin.

"You do realize I Know what your doing."

"What exactly am I doing?" A small smirk appeared on his face.

" Do you honestly think that if I wanted to finish her outside of battle _you _would be able to stop me?" Sakura tensed and she swore her eyes saw red. The worst part of it was she wasn't sure if she could, but she sure as hell would have tried. Despite the lack of confidence in herself she still shot back at him.

"You know your really over confident for someone that got caught off guard so easily at our sparring session. Who are you to preach about being alert at all times when you couldn't even stop an attack that was right under your nose?"Neji's own temper flared.

"You got a lucky shot when I was distracted – you'd never be able to have touched me other wise."

"You wanna go with me pretty boy?" Sakura's fists were clenched Neji's own gripped tightly by his side.

"Enough!" Lee, who had been quietly and captivatedly observing with the others, stepped in between the two and pushed them apart. "Save it for the exams. It is useless to be angry here." Neji shoved himself away from where Lee's hand was pressed against his chest, Sakura did the same motion minus the disgust.

"If she even makes it that far." Sakura would have shot back another remark when TenTen cut in.

"Neji, come on knock it off, lets go somewhere else okay, the stadium is huge –"

"THANK YOU!" Naruto interrupted her mid sentence, causing everyone to shoot him an annoyed look before the weapon master began to speak again.

"Anyway, the place has enough for all of us." Neji reluctantly nodded and turned to leave. They could still see the backs of the three retreating ninja when Ino broke the tense air.

"Sooooo… you find Neji attractive." Sakura whipped around to gape at her friend sputtering all the while. "And you want to 'go with him'. This is an interesting turn of events indeed." Ino had a goofy smile on her face and looked to be constraining giggles as Sakura was to shocked and angry to even speak.

"I NEVER SAID THAT!"

"Oh even more interesting you don't deny that you think it."

"That can't be true Sakura-chan! You can't like that Jerk! Why do you always fall for the wrong guys!?" Naruto whined coming up to cling to her arm. She shoved him off.

"I NEVER THOUGHT IT BEFORE EITHER!"

"so your thinking it now then." Shikamaru butted in.

"STOP TWISTING MY WORDS AROUND!" Sakura couldn't believe this, she had to defend her hate for Neji in front of all of her friends? Only the sweet and adorable Hinata wasn't making her –

"If you two got married we could be related…." She spoke a full sentence without stuttering.

"HINATA YOU TO!" Sakura fell to her knees in surrender. What the hell had just happened?

"Sorry Sakura, but the feeling isn't mutual." Neji's voice was echoed down the long corridor. Horrified, Sakura whipped her head around to stare at a smirking Neji and a giggling TenTen along with a horrified Lee.

"Please tell me you guys didn't hear all of this…."

"I told you if you want to be shinobi then be aware of your surroundings. We were still in hearing distance you know." With that her turned to walk away again before pausing and glancing over his shoulder. "Maybe if you weren't so weak it would have worked out."

"You arrogant jerk-wad! I still hate you you know!"

"And I still think your pathetic you know"

"Uggghhh! Look what you did INO PIG!" Sakura turned to give her friend a good smack down and persisted a chase for about 5 minute before the rest of the rookie 9 – save Sasuke – arrived.

They all questioned the same things Sakura and Ino had asked Hinata. Naruto explained, with Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru making interjections in places they didn't think were true, for her since she wasn't good under pressure.

Apparently Naruto had stopped by the hospital before coming here, he went to see Hinata who had promptly fainted upon his entrence. While she was still incapacitated, he quietly (loudly, interruptedly and annoying) walked (ran) around the hospital looking for her doctor and politely (loudly and annoyingly) inquired (demanded) if Hinata was able to leave. The doctor so over come with Naruto's politeness (volume) took a while to recover before following him to check up on the girl. Upon the silent (Naruto frequently questioning and being intrusive) examination. The doctor said she was free to go, just not to push herself to hard and to come for check ups. Naruto was about to leave with her when, upon seeing his face a second time, she once again fainted. Naruto cleverly (and surprisingly) then went to buy a mask that he wore when she woke up the third time. Not being able to see his face she did not faint. Once they made it to the stadium and Sakura and Ino were in sight, he was able to take the mask off. (Hinata was apparently able not to faint when she was with other people when Naruto was around.)

After the explanations, there was a pause of peaceful silence, with some moderately quiet conversations in groups – one of which included Ino asking about Sasuke which Sakura replied: "I don't know but Kakashi better be training his ass off or I'm gonna have some serious 'talking' to do with that geezer…" She was still upset Kakashi thought Sasuke was the only student worth his time to train.

Sakura went to meditate on the ground, picturing the arena in her mind and thinking how she could use certain moves against different possible challengers, trying to predict their movesets and possible movements. Buuuutttt… she was no Shikamaru, she was pretty sure she was getting nowhere with that so began to store chakra instead. It was quiet peaceful, just her and her friends having a nice time.

"Say did you guys hear that Sakura is in love with Neji"

Of course Ino ruined it.

Sakura jumped her from behind.

"STOP TELLING PEOPLE THAT!"

Admits the new roar of conversation Sakura couldn't help but look back on two years ago. _It would have been nothing like this_. If Ino and Hinata hadn't been in danger that night, would Sakura still be like she was back then? Only focused on revenge and not enjoying moments like this, moments that actually mattered now? Yes. She thought. She would. And suddenly she was all the more grateful for that one event – grateful even to the crooks that nearly killed her.

Was that what Sasuke was like now? Maybe not completely on the surface, but deep inside? Would he join Orochimaru and steal away a little piece of happiness from everyone he knew? She hoped not, she hoped he could see the light. Maybe if he knew she understood what it was like. That even though he knew his family's killer and she didn't the feeling was still the same. Maybe she could save him. She wanted him to have this feeling of hope too. She didn't want him to end up leaving.

She liked it better this way.

She wanted this to last forever.

"but then again, your already dating that sand guy, so does that mean your cheating?"

…. Okay maybe not this EXACT moment.

**XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX**

A while later people started to file into the stadium. Everything was about to begin soon and Sakura had a sick feeling in her stomach. _Stupid nerves. _After a while, Everyone went to take their respectful seats with their families. Sakura, Shikamaru and Shino were left in the end – they had to clear out of their original spot and moved to a separate balcony – set up specifically for the challengers. It was closer to the field and was right next to the stairs that led down to the arena. When everything was being called into order, the challengers were told to stand in the center of the arena – the only one not present being Sasuke and the sound ninja. Sakura had to admit – she was becoming a bit more concerned for the guy.

They Hokage announced that the matches would begin and for everyone to remain until they were over – then the proctor showed the challengers a change in the line up. Apparently the sand ninja had dropped out – that meant Sakura would fight Neji. As for Sasuke, they would wait for him to show and leave his battle with Gaara for last. So instead of the original set up the finals started the battle off with Kankuro and Shino's battle. The rest of the preliminary winners were told to sit (or stand) at the waiting area, so they would be on deck for their turn. Sakura was excited, they basically got the nosebleed seats of the Chunin exams (which could be good or bad depending on how you looked at it, being closer to the action could be dangerous) but at the same time it made her feel really special and proud. Sakura only got to acknowledge Gaara and his siblings with a head nod before Shino and Shikamaru began dragging her away– hissing at her not to talk to Gaara and making her want to pummel them.

Needless to say she held a grudge against them for the duration of the first round (Shino having to return to the field after making sure she wasn't leaving that spot – he even made Shikamaru stand guard gosh darn it! Boy was her blood boiling!)

Her grudge was quickly forgotten however when the match began. She became completely immersed in the battle. It didn't seem much to spectators farther up in the stands because when Shino's bugs weren't in a large swarm they were two tiny to spot. A lot of it may have appeared to be a one sided battle to those to far up, but as soon as Kankuro's puppets were put out of commission because the bugs destroyed them, it was clear Shino was fighting just as much as the puppet master.

One fight finished, three left to go and Sasuke _still _wasn't here – a fact that had Sakura subconsciously biting her nail. With Sasuke still unaccounted for Sakura's match was bumped up. In one instant she made eye contact with Neji, and remembered that she was fighting him - something they were both more then happy to do if the trash talk earlier had anything to say about it. Her smirked at her and she smirked back. It was time to show Neji that he couldn't be such a snobby-stuck-up-arrogant-jerk and get away with it anymore! Before jumping off the ledge and into the arena – a very Naruto like move, she must be spending to much time with the idiot – she caught Gaara's attention and gave him a small smile, of which he returned in an instant. Oh yeah, she could do this.

With a battle cry of good luck coming from Naruto, Kiba and Lee, that Sakura swore everyone in Konoha could hear, she leaped down from the waiting area – Neji, surprisingly, doing the same. They took their places on opposite ends of the ring and the proctor told them the same as the others, had then got out of the way right as he shouted begin.

Both Neji and Sakura were in a battle stance before anyone could blink, but for the moment they were just sizing each other up, Sakura's analytical mind trying to think of a good strategy, and she assumed that Neji was doing the same.

"Ready for the last 9/10ths of my revenge? "

"Assuming you can score a hit on me."

"Aw and here I was thinking you'd be overjoyed if I touched you" That make Sakura go red in the face – which probably made Neji think she actually like him – which just made her angrier and redder.

Neji activated his Byakugan, Sakura made two clones and then began to circle around Neji, trying to confuse him as to which one was the real one.

"So I see you can distribute chakra evenly – good control." Not even a millisecond after his words Sakura had to bend back to avoid his first aiming for her heart.

"How did you ..?"

"If I told you I wouldn't be a good shinobi now would I?"

_Darn, clones aren't working. Why? My chakra is evenly distributed I should have tricked him, whats the difference between them and me? _Sakura was now on the defensive, once a Hyuga got close to you it was hard to get away from them – considering close range was their style after all. She wasn't going to be able to figure out the problem if she had to concentrate on dodging. Until she did know how he could tell the difference, she would have to refrain from using clones and wasting chakra.

First things first – getting away from him. During the group spar, she separated herself from Lee by smashing open the ground, but that would involve getting a little closer to the opponent. It worked on Lee because she could risk possibly taking a hit from him – although it would have been painful. With Neji she couldn't take that risk, if he hit her he'd block a chakra point and probably push her to the ground witch would leave her at a complete disadvantage. As it was now, she needed a space to think.

Forming Hand signs as quickly as she could she forced the earth underneath Neji to shoot up into the air, something he wouldn't be able to see until it happened. He caught on to the trick quickly and as soon as he did he jumped down with a heel kick ready to bang her head into the ground. Sakura quickly formed and earth prison around herself. Giving her a little time to think. She heard the impact of his kick, and a dent was left in her little fortress, something she quickly sealed up. She could feel him beginning to attack it from all sides looking for the weak point. Sakura sat down to meditate, focusing on holding up her barrier, and for extra assurance, she created a wind prison around the earth one, if Neji was to attack it, the wind would cut him up. She wouldn't be able to hold it up for long though – it used too much chakra and the match had barely started. She need to think.

What did she know about the Byakugan? _Not much… _She knew that it could see through clones unless the user was able to do what she could – _lot of good that did. _She knew it gave him nearly 360 degrees of vision, he could see an attack coming as soon as it started up unless it started past a thick barrier – _that was the only reason my distancing strategy worked, the attack began deep underground where his eyes couldn't reach – _She also knew that, as previously stated, the Byakugan could see through certain barriers unless they were thick – _does that mean he can see through my clothes? Ew Gross! No focus! What_ _that means is he might be able to see me right now._ This is what she knew and it got her nowhere if she couldn't use clones – they were her only chance at getting close to him. This was taking far to much time, only seconds had passed and it was putting on a lot of strain. She wasn't some chakra powerhouse, at least she wouldn't be until she expanded her chakra. At this rate she'd break into her stored chakra in little to no time and all that time spent meditating would be useless.

_Chakra store. _

Sakura's eyes blasted open and she stared at her arm. The arm with the little read lines symbolizing the chakra pool she created. _That was difference between her and her clones. _Her right arm had a little more Chakra then the rest of her body.

As soon as she had her information, a new plot formed in her head. And judging by the sound of Kunai embedding themselves into the barrier of hers, it was right on time.

**Neji POV**

The defense was infuriating as soon as the wind came up. It just had to come up right as he was making a strike - Neji's hand donned some new cuts from the razor like air surrounding the mound of earth. The girl may be good at defense, but clearly her offense was lacking if this was all she had for him. She truly was pathetic.

It wasn't long before he figured out the best plan of action to break the defense. He attached paper bombs to his kunai and began tossing them at the stone. If they were thrown at the right speed, they wouldn't shoot out of the wind current, but rather cut through it and embed themselves in the rock. As soon as the prison was surrounded, he set the bombs off and the little barrier exploded. There was no way Sakura made it out of there alive. Or at least not without getting burned. The Wind barrier outside however, had taken some of the explosive's flames and began enhancing the heat, cooking anything around or inside it before the wind jutsu was called off.

The audience was on edge after the explosion, waiting for the smoke to clear, to see who would come out. Neji couldn't keep his open when dirt was flying towards his eyes and was forced to squint to see what was happening. That's when he saw her dashing right towards him, one fist covered in chakra aiming for his head he dodged just in time and it instead hit the earth making more debris and bringing more dirt into the air, forcing him to move back and close his eyes completely for just an instant. That instant was all it took for a kick to smash into his back and send him flying forward. His eyes shot open. _Damn! How had he aloud her to get his eyes closed? And how did she move so fast. He hadn't had enough time to use his 8 trigram rotation – she wouldn't catch him off guard again._

He sensed her chakra charging from the right, not the left, straight ahead? Up?

"there is no way your this quick."

"Your right!" He turned his head to the right, now having rubbed his eyes free he was able see his opponent form the distance as well as the other copies around him. "I'm not!" He dodged her attack and slammed a fist into her stomach feeling Satisfied as she fell over, before he had to turn around and defend himself from the clones in the other directions.

"Clones. so you figured out how I knew the difference."

The ones around him were all dealt with, but none of the them was the real her, he already knew she had been the one hanging back. As stated many times over – Pathetic. Predictable.

And now she was charging at him. "There you are" They engaged in another battle of dodging and punching, neither one getting any good hits in although Neji was able to graze her cheek, anything that came close to him he was easily able to block. His taijutsu was far superior – despite that she did still maintain a good defense.

"Is this all you got?" Neji pulled back his hands before landing a palm strike right in the chakra points in her stomach. "Your finished."

"Nope." The pained look on Sakura's face turned into a smirk as she crumbled into dirt like the other earth clones he had to fight.

I hand shot out from under Neji and began yanking his left leg into the ground. His hands furiously reached down to attack the offending limb and he was able to score a hit on a couple chakra points in that arm, forcing Sakura to let him go with only one leg knee deep in the earth. However, it rendered him immobile for the time being.

The rest of Sakura's body shot up behind him aiming to hit the back of his head, but he was able to twist his body and effectively block the attack, although the side of his arm took the brunt of a chakra infused blow and he swore he heard the tiniest cracking sound.

"So the real one finally presents herself. Are you done with hiding now?" sakura didn't' grace him with a response. As she tried to pull back when his unoccupied hand aimed for the punching arm, clearly not the one she had used to drag him down. It grazed the skin but wasn't enough to shut down the flow of chakra in that arm.

**Sakura POV**

To escape the blast, she used her head hunter jutsu, then in the midst of the commotion created clones to go out and fight for her. She hadn't expected the dirt to get Neji in the eye, but hey worked for her. Maybe that would come in handy later.

As for the moment, she was feeling the intense pain of blocked chakra – even if it wasn't an attack at a vital spot it hurt like hell, her arm killed, and jutsu would be a lot harder – but maybe not impossible. The chakra could still flow, just not well. _He didn't get them all. _

Sakura jumped away from him and began weaving hand signs, with the slackened flow of chakra, her ultimate attack weaker then it would have been. Her whirlwind shuriken would act as her defense and offensive mode. She began sending them out towards him. It seemed there was no way he would get out of this one, with Sakura being able to control the direction and speed of her Shuriken with her chakra. That was – until a new defense presented itself. Visible blue chakra came up to shield the dark haired Hyuga.

_What? How can he even spin like that, when his leg is stuck – oh crap! _His lef might be stuck but it was located where her body had previously been hiding mean there was enough wiggle room for him. He may not be able to et out, but he was able to twist. _At least it looks like its delayed, if I time it right, I might land a few hits. _

However, she was running dangerously low on Chakra and some of the Shuriken were going to fast to control properly, as soon as them went out of range they became nothing more then harmless air again. So while Neji was distracting with the remained 3 of 6 shuriken that she had, she took a gamble to charge at him hoping to nock him out with a fist to his head only to make contact and have it poof into a large chunk of rock.

_What?! Substitution?! _

The debris from earlier, when her earth prison brock – but when did he –

"Surprised?" Neji's voice came from her left and before she even had time to register what was going on, a strong kick hit her abdomen her _real _abdomen and sent her crashing into the large expanse of rock tower she had created at the start of the battle to get him away from her. She was stuck inside a deep crater – Chakra dangerously low and now with damaged internal organs coughing up blood – it didn't seem to terribly bad, but it was enough to not be ignored. This did not look good for her.

_I've handled worse. _She thought of the forest of death, of protecting her friends to her dying breath.

_Hinata handled worse. _The image of a battered and beaten Hinata coughing up blood, then her sleeping in the hospital entered her mind.

_I promised…_The time Naruto and she had fiercely told Neji he was wrong, that people could change that the only one who could set your limits was yourself.

But what could she do all she had left was the chakra store in her arm, she had wanted to save that till later. On top of which one arms chakra was nearly completely blocked. But there _wouldn't be a later_ if she didn't use it now. So all that was left was a plan, and she had a few seconds for the dirt to clear for her to think of one.

**Neji POV**

The crowd was hushed as they waited for the arena to clear. Even Naruto and Lee were silent. Not like the battle would last much longer, he just had to wait to see if she was still trying. He could sense her in the earth pillar, she was in horrible shape, there was no way she could possibly win.

There was a blue vision in the distance and Sakura launched herself out, fist covered in chakra, going for Neji's face. She looked exhausted but there was fierce determination in her eyes.

Neji narrowed his own, _foolishness._

He easily blocked and aimed for her chest, which she blocked by grabbing his wrist. She jumped up and kicked his chest forcing him to backwards. Surprisingly she didn't let go of his wrist but instead tightened her grip and maneuvered her hand around his blocking arm getting a tight grasp of that wrist. The moment she jumped to kick, she pushed her weight forward so he had no chance to catch his balance and was instead sent straight to the ground.

Acting fast, he pulled her forward and head-butted her. Sakura's grip instinctively went slack and he ripped his hands free. In the next instant he used the gentle fist to shove her off. Right as he was about to jump off the ground and do a final blow, hands came from the ground to pull him back by the shoulders. _The ground again? _He rolled backwards, forcing her arms to twist uncomfortably and make her let go, then struck down on her head.

She then dematerialized into dirt. _Earth clone. _

He felt movement coming from the ground and jumped out of the way as another 'Sakura' jumped out of the ground, as soon as he landed he felt it again and again, 5 times until there were six Sakura's surrounding him. He couldn't feel anything coming from the ground after that. It appeared she'd reached her limit.

"Looks like your plan failed. To over used. Aren't you able to do anything else then pop out of the ground like a mole?"

"Don't limit me." The group shouted charging towards him. He depend his stance.

"Don't underestimate me!" Another Sakura popped from the ground behind him and pulled another holding his feet down.

"You know if you want to be a shinobi you should really be more aware of your surroundings!" The leader of the pack shouted, pulling her fist back. So many enemies coming from different angles – this was becoming tedious. It was time to wrap this up. Neji didn't even skip a beat as he activated his family's special jutsu.

"8 trigram rotation!" He easily shook off his restraints and busted them into dirt before beginning to take down the rest one by one in rapid succession. There was only one that hadn't disappeared in the midst of it all. Surprisingly, she still made the effort to charge towards him. As soon as she was close enough he blocked her punch and shot his hand straight at her heart.

"You lose." He stared right at her waiting for her to drop, only for her to burst into dirt like the others. "What? Then…where…?"

"I thought I told you. Stop thinking you can limit me!" Neji whipped his head around to see he had been back up against the rock he had blasted her into earlier. And it was moving… no… it was _Sakura_. Her body was clad in a thick earth covering as she brought her fist down on his head, he barely had time to bring his hands up and block. He had to bend his knees, trying to push her arms off of him. "You don't decide what I can and can't do only I can do that!" Her force pushed him down onto his back, he could see her coming down for a heel kick to his head.

**Sakura POV**

_It worked. It wouldn't last long, she'd have to finish this off quick, but it WORKED._

Back when she was embedded in the earth pillar she had created, Sakura had tapped into her chakra reserves. _Good for 5 good jutsus, or two really good ones_. Immediately a plot formed, there was a new trick she wanted to try out and it would work perfectly to defend her against Neji, however she hadn't mastered it before now, she barley had any practices with it. She needed to buy time – hence the larger easier jutsu would be required. If she could stall Neji with some clones and force him to be backed up against her current position – she'd have a chance to take him down. She created one clone to keep him busy and created a few more to hide in the ground, sending them down through the pillar with a head hunter jutsu so they could go undetected.

The first clone she sent out was the time buyer, even when it was hit Sakura made sure to sustain it, if she did that then it would take him longer to catch on. Meanwhile she was hiding in the rocks, doing her best ton concentrate her chakra and arm herself with a rock shield. He wouldn't be able to sense he chakra if she made it thick enough, but it'd be extremely heavy to move in. She only had the chance to get in one blow by jumping down from her spot on him. If she missed or if she hit, it was over for one of them. Once she had the hang of it, she allowed her first clone to poof away, as it was no longer needed. As soon as her second came up to grab him and he got way, the third one moved to his position so on and so forth, slowly pushing him up towards her. While they continued the process she finished latching on the thick and heavy earth armor And when it was time prepared to knock him out.

She should have known it wouldn't be that simple.

As soon as he saw her coming he used his 8 trigrams rotation. To try and push her back. To her amazement – she was to heavy. She was overjoyed! Two sentences that less then a minute ago she never thought she would use together. But he just kept rotating, if he got exhausted then her shield could break through his and land the final blow – if not then, well you know what happens then.

A battle of the defenses.

Sakura could feel him slipping, feel him not being up to keep up the speed. But she could feel herself slipping too, some of the rock shield had already began to crumble and the 8 trigrams was making it worse. This would end soon. _Yeah, like that hasn't been said for the past half of the battle. _Sakura could picture little comical chibi character of Neji and herself attacking, declaring they won then the other surprising them and attack declaring they won while the other pouted and the vicious cycle continuing in a cute comical and albeit twisted vision of what was actually happening at this moment. _Yeah, battles to the death are always cute and comical._

That's when it happened. They slipped at the exact same time, Both falling to the ground, Sakura landing on top of Neji her heel scraping down his chest out of its path which happened to be directed at his pretty boy face. As soon as she touched she lost her balance falling forward on the boy who was leaning backwards. They toppled on top of another and scrambled to get up immediately, partly out of embarrassment – a deadly situation actually _did _turn comical – and partly so they could get the upper hand.

Wait. Sakura already _did _have the upper hand, she could start pounding his face in. So stopping her attempt to untangle herself from the albeit awkward position, she straightened up and brought her fist back to sock him in the face, a little bit of chakra going into enhance it, her final blow after this she couldn't use anymore or she would certainly die.

It was going to hit going to succeed! Until he reminded her could still use his gentle fist and blocked all the chakra points in there arm. In two seconds flat her attack was thwarted and he easily tossed her body weight over his head forcing her to land roughly on her back on the ground. Their bodies were aligned, both on their back s with their heads facing each other. He let go of her arm and pushed himself to get up. Sakura – out of breath, out of nearly all chakra and hacking up more blood from her wheezing attempted the same.

"Its done now, don't even bother getting up – because if you do it will be the last decision you ever make." He had taken on some weird stance, that much she could see from the way she lay. Grunting past the pain she slowly and shakily turned over on her stomach so she would be facing him when her arms pushed her up to stand. "Fine. Have it your way." He breathed in, eyes close before opening them again, a new fierceness in his eyes and stance. "8 trigrams 64 palms!"

Boy did she wish she hadn't got up. In just seconds she took the most intense beating of her entire life. She could barely hear him calling out 2 palms, 4, 8, 16, all the way to 64 before she had collapsed again. She could see black spots, the internal damage wasn't helping her stay standing, but she couldn't turn back, not now. She had to numb her body, numb it to the pain. But how does one do that. She could distract herself, but there wasn't much to look at and Neji wasn't exactly a person she'd distract herself with. She desperately searched the stands, she'd look for her friends as she pushed herself back up, they could give her strength.

Naruto Lee and Kiba were the ones she spotted first. Kiba's mouth was ajar and Akamaru looked like her was barking up a storm. Lee looked to have overdramatized tears streaming down his face yelling about youth cherry blossoms and never giving up in the face of disappear.

Naruto was the easiest to hear. He was screaming at the top of his lungs using every colorful word in his vocabulary to curse Neji out in-between cheering for Sakura to get up to still fight.

Ino looked greatly concerned, like she was gonna cry or something. It almost made Sakura want to stop, to keep Ino from tears, but it also made her want to push forward. To prove to her friend that she didn't need to worry anymore. If she couldn't get up and finish this, Ino would fuss over her forever.

Hinata, the poor shy girl look heartbroken, scared and overall nervous, but even from this distance she could see something else. Something there. Just looking at Hinata got a message across, she could practically hear the pale eyed girls sweet voice in her head telling that Hinata believed in her.

Choji had stopped eating. Nough said.

Her eyes scanned over to Shino who she couldn't read so scanned over him to Shikamaru. His look told her to get the hell out of there – which she ignored. Then she spotted Gaara, she swore that he was a different person. One hand was clutching his head, he was glaring at Neji hard and his siblings were shooting wary glances, backing up as they did so. She was scared. Then she blinked and when she looked again he was looking at her, she saw his eyes and in them were worry, fear anger and sadness. He looked like he wanted to tear something to shreds. And she found the reason for his hatred was because she was hurt – what would he do if she didn't make it, what would happen to Neji? She knew it wouldn't be good. She'd never seen Gaara like this and didn't know what to think. She wanted him back to normal. The only way to do that was to prove she was okay. So she would. For Naruto, For Lee, for Hinata, for Ino for Gaara and for herself, she'd fight on. And, she hated to say it but for Neji's own sake to.

Crap. Now she had to _beat _Neji to protect him from _getting _a beating. _The Irony_

She had to win.

This was it. This was one way to protect her friends in this instant.

With this in mind was how she found herself on her feet before she even remembered standing up.

There was a pause between the two of them. "Why don't you just give up – no one can change their destiny. You weren't born to be a ninja. You're parents were diplomats, not shinobi, that's the reason they died." She glared hard and for a second thought about playing possum and let Gaara handle the rest. The idea was shrugged off as soon as it came up, but her glare remained, filled with hatred festering itself on her face. "And you, you have to many limits – your chakra levels are to low and despite your control it can't make up for what you don't have, you think to much with emotion and the most pitiful downfall of all is the very thing you're fighting for is impossible to achieve – making your 'purpose' pointless."

"Just shut up! Don't go on about destiny crap! People make their own destinies!"

"See? How can you hope to protect everyone when you stare at your enemy with so much hatred?" Sakura's eyes widened. Sure her goal had been to protect the ones she cared about but in essence, them seeing her like this would hurt them, seeing her not like her usual self, seeing her in pain, in anger. And the only way to truly protect them is if she could stop harmful actions and people at the source. If one of her friends was about to get killed but Sakura stopped the killer without ending his life, he could kill other people maybe another friend or maybe someone close to her loved ones. If she were to kill the threat then whoever cared about that person would seek vengeance and the cycle would continue. The only real way to stop it all was to convince the killer against their ways, to take sense into them (or beat it in, which ever you prefer) and in turn, starting at the source, you would have many lives. "What you seek is peace and in this world that is impossible. You are too idealistic. In this world the thing you claim to live for is meaningless. You can't help anyone, you can't save anyone – their destinies are already written down. Whether your there or not it will make no difference because you weren't meant to be there in the first place. You're just a paper ninja."

Paper ninja. She'd heard the insult before, by some genin once when they'd seen her training. They'd taken her on and she had lost – she wasn't strong enough and didn't have a good amount of chakra at her disposal. It was simply a term that meant – you seem like a good ninja in writing but you can't actually use the skills.

"Then how the hell did I make it this far?!"

"Well, I do believe in destiny, but I also think people get lucky, let our spar earlier be proof of that" He motioned to his jaw, where she had socked him a good uppercut the other day, she could see a slight bruise under the chin and it made her want to dance.

"So what, I'm suppose to sit back and do nothing? I'm suppose to just watch my friends get hurt or killed when I could be doing something about it instead?!" Neji glared at her.

"You _can't _Do anything about it. That's the point."

"NO I CAN! It's each individual person that effects each other, our experiences, everything we say, do or hear all makes us who we are. But everyone gets a choice in what they choose to do! I can choose to stay back and watch my friends die or I can choose to fight by them and help us both survive! There is a big difference, no destiny involved!"

"YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE"

"YES YOU DO!"

What used to be a final exam had turned into a screaming match about destiny. Neji figured people would be yelling at them to continue fighting, but to his shock they were interested to hear what was happening.

Without much of a real warning, Neji untied his headband revealing the green x imprinted on his forehead, two lines on either side of it with a strange hook like feature close to the x.

"What the – what is that thing." Sakura wasn't shouting anymore… she was just searching his eyes for an explanation.

"This is a curse mark." And that's how they all learned everything. Everything about Neji, his family his fathers death and the curse he was born to bare because unfair happenstance said that his father was 'less' then his uncle. The hate in Neji's voice was undeniable. "Only in death was he free. They were twins, but their destinies were determined the moment one was born a few seconds ahead of the other." He clutched his headband tightly his knuckles turning white. "Are you trying to tell me that I – that my father that any main branch member – CHOSE THIS!"

There was more silence in the whole stands, Neji shot a glare towards the stands where Hiashi was sitting.

"That… is so messed up." Sakura's voice was so quiet she didn't think it was hers. "What they hell is wrong with your family?! That's sick and twisted and awful!" He stared at her, facial expression unmoving as she stared at the ground yelling her thoughts at the dirt. She took time to compose herself before staring into Neji's eyes. Her own eyes held no sympathy, no pity, simply they held an understanding. She may not know exactly what he was facing, but somehow, she could feel the pain. She knew what it was like to lose a family member and have no retribution for it. It wasn't the same, but pain hurts either way. "You're right. You didn't choose that. But someone else did. Someone came up with this sick and twisted idea and it was passed down. You were born into a time where it still existed and that is unfortunate. That sucks. Its unfair. Its awful and yes – its inescapable."

"So you are beginning to understand then – things cannot be changed."

"Wrong." She glared him down. " You were born with these limitations and everyone else has their own as well – your not the only one! Hinata didn't choose her dad to be born before yours- she's suffering and your part of the cause! Just because others' aren't visible doesn't mean their not there. But limits were meant to be broken. You are boxed in by that mark, but your boxing yourself in by thinking you can't do anything about it! If everyone thinks that way, if no one fights back then of course nothing will change! You still have choices, you can prove yourself you can fight to get the mark banished find a way to get it off!" She stopped her rant to pant. "The only thing holding you back, the thing trapping you in the misery of your so called destiny – IS YOURSELF! That's like a person without legs saying – 'well I guess I have to stay in this spot for the rest of my life' when there are ways they can still move – unconventional inconvenient and unfair but there are still ways!"

Neji was silent, the room was silent wait for the next move. A singular voice shouted out "fight" before they were quickly hit over the head and hushed.

"You can't change destiny," was his reply. Sakura sighed her anger gone, tension leaving her. And inside in her heart that she had covered up with her fierce anger, she felt an unbearable sadness. Neji would be stuck like this if he never changed his mind set, making himself miserable, she was sad for him, and her heart ached so much she want to cry. She knew everyone could see it, it was pooling off her in waves. Neji could see it in her eyes and if he was affected, insulted, angered he didn't show it, he simply tied his headband back on. "It is the very reason you are destined to lose this match."

"As long as you think that you will keep yourself standing still."

"Enough talk. Its time to finish this." He got into position. "And I'm not responsible for what happens to you."

"So be it." Sakura took her own stance, she still had some juice left in her. She saw Neji's eyes widen and assumed began to charge chakra into his eyes to activate his kekki genk, but for some reason the veins on the sides of his face didn't appear. She thought she heard him swear.

Her eyes widened in realization – there was no way, just no way… he had run out! This was freaking AWESOME

"Well I guess this means were on a more level playing field – nice shinobi skills, you know If you want to call yourself a shinobi you really should keep an eye out for your chakra levels." Sakura was thinking about it in her head, after how many times he'd used the rotation in battle and then their stalemate where he had to constantly uphold his chakra (which she herself had no more left to use by the end) and finally the 64 palms technique. So that was _his limit. _"Guess this was destiny."

"I expected you to be taken care of by now."

"Aren't you sweet."

One chakra blocked. Both depleted severely or out of chakra. Both exhausted. Granted, Sakura was worse for wear due to her _actually _getting beaten, but Neji had his own share of damage, and chakra exhaustion was no easy matter – luckily Sakura had practice with fighting while exhausted. They charged, kunai in hand intent in their eyes. They went back and forth no one landing any real good hits. The thing about Neji was – he was used to fighting with the Byakugan on. Not that he only use it when doing taijutsu, but the majority of the time he did. He couldn't always see where her attacks were coming from, and this is what made their skills equal to each other. It was for that reason that she finally got a good kick to his gut pushing him on his back where she delivered another heel kick to the same spot she was about to bring another one down but he used a sweep kick to trip her over and she was to exhausted to stand fully again – despite the attempts. _Talk about sweeping a girl off her feet. _She grimaced as he gut felt like it was being stabbed thrice over and blood leaked out of her mouth. The best she could do was roll over on her belly and support herself with her hands and knees. Then there was Neji, leaned over clutching his stomach and blood dripping out of his mouth too – and here she had been thinking she hadn't hit him hard enough. It looked like he couldn't stand up either. So here they were, half up and half out just having a glaring contest as if testing the theory if looks could literally kill – or at least make the person go unconscious. It was a good three minutes of this, before the proctor declared if neither of them made a move in 30 seconds then match would be declared a tie. Sakura reached for her kunai holster, grabbing a shuriken as fast as she could. Neji's movements mimicking her own and they tossed, both dodged their heads and panted. In the end it came down to exhaustion.

Sakura punched the ground as hard as she could in frustration. _Darn it! I couldn't beat him and I only made it this far because he over used his chakra! Is he actually better then me? She _was about to lie there defeated when she heard something., cracking – like… the earth was going to fall. The she looked around. And they were in the path she had her earth clones dig out from the pillar – under them was a hollow tunnel the head hunter jutsu had allowed her to create. The ground was unbalanced and weak under them. She though about how many times both she and Neji had slammed into the ground _hard _and it didn't take Shikamaru to figure out that the ground beneath them had reached its own limit. The ground around the earth pillar would crumble in on itself bringing the pillar down with it, and they were right in its path.

_Crap. _

She rolled as fast as she could away from the area, probably looking like a total idiot doing so but she could feel the ground moving, she knew Neji could too but he just hadn't pieced together the cause yet. She stopped at a safe distance clutching her gut in pain. She was on her back now, head turned to see Neji's eyes light up with realization, right as the ground was falling through and the pillar began to topple over, Neji directly in its path.

"NEJI LOOK OUT!" She didn't know how it happened, but the next thing she knew there were earth style users forming a protective dome over the genin (who had still fallen into a newly made small trench, and the match was over, no one was technically the winner because no one dealt the final blow, so the proctor and Hokage were going to discuss the outcome while the preteens were being treated for injury. When it was decided, then the two would come back to the arena for the decision to be announced. Until then, Temari and Shikamaru would have their match. Sakura found this acceptable and promptly passed out.

When she woke up her friends were there, save Choji and Ino who had remained to cheer on Shikamaru, and Naruto didn't actually appear until later surprisingly. According to her friends, the battle thus far had been Shikamaru sitting in the Shadows doing nothing but staring at the clouds, while Gaara's sister Temari used the same fan attack she had used on TenTen over and over again.

Hinata informed her that the internal injuries weren't serious, something she chalked down to the fact Neji's didn't have as much precision in his foot as his fingers despite the fact it covered a larger area. Her blocked chakra was unblocked by medics, although after they saw she had hardly any left in the first place they told the group to scold Sakura for letting her Chakra get that low. Other then that, the only real injuries were her bruises and the internal damage (the medics fixed up the insides to a stable point and left the bruises to heal themselves, something she didn't mind. They were proof of her battle after all.) Exhaustion was the main reason she couldn't continue. Apparently Neji's diagnoses was nearly exactly the same. But his internal injuries were less server because all she did was stomp on his stop a couple of times. He also lacked the many bruises she was adorned with.

Not long after that a nurse entered and said that if she felt okay she was free to leave. She jumped at the chance and when a stab of pain hit her middle she regretted it. Luckily it wasn't severe pain and it passed quickly, she assumed that she had a very bruised abdomen. Her friends looked concerned so she quickly reassured them and they all headed back to watch the match. Sakura stayed with her friends in their seats for the time being, she'd have to jump down there later to be declared winner or loser or tie depending on what had been decided. She was not looking forward to the gut pain that would follow right now she was just going to sit back, rest and enjoy the show.

From her friends description, Shikamaru hadn't been putting up much of any fight. But by the time they got there he was cleverly maneuvering his opponent, to back up against the deepest part of the mini trench Sakura had accidently created he could strike from almost every angle and took advantage of the many deeper holes or larger rocks. His tactical way of handling the situation made her all the more impressed with his abilities and IQ although when he forfeited her jaw nearly hit the floor. _He so could have won! Why did he forfeit?! _Which was exactly what Naruto was screaming when he jumped of the balcony to demand answers. Sakura panicked from Naruto's rushing into the arena (again) and jumped after him. Just as she though, mucho gut pain accompanied said jump. Shikamaru's response to the questions were it 'was a drag to fight again' and he was 'out of Chakra anyway'. This did little to calm her temper, but reason took over and she thought that his loss – or win if you were any of the leaf genin – was just his style anyway. And perhaps, in the end what he did was the smartest move anyway. Temari had cleared out in an angry huff - apparently insulted that Shikamaru quit- so now it was just Sakura, Naruto, Shikamaru and Neji. Wait Neji?

"When'd you get here Hyuga?" She questioned.

"Just now actually. I was told the match ended and to report here to get the results of our fight." Sakura didn't miss the pointed look Neji gave Naruto, or the bruised cheek he was now sporting. She suddenly found out why Naruto was late – that must have been his revenge for Hinata and maybe for Sakura too. "By the way." Sakura looked at him as he outstretched his hand. "You did well. But I'll let you know I'll never lose to you or anyone else again." Whoa did Neji just admit he lost? What did Naruto say to this guy? Sakura hesitantly reached out to shake his hand.

"Okay to be perfectly honest I thought you were going to kill me and I'd turn into a ghost seeking revenge upon your soul until the day you died." She stated bluntly and seriously. Neji gave her a strange look, Naruto looked frightened at the idea of Sakura's wrath and then there was Shikamaru that looked like he was looking at clouds. They should really diagnose a condition for that – being jealous of clouds did not seem normal to her. "I'm just kidding." She smiled and Naruto calmed, and Neji still gave her a weird look. _Geez no one gets my jokes maybe I should just stop.._ "But I seriously did think you were going to kill. And, by the way, you seem different."

"Different?"

"Yeah, you know lighter, freer, happy….uugh I don't know how to describe it… its like…umm like hopeful? Yeah that's the word."

"Hopeful." Sakura nodded. "Perhaps." was his response and to the shock of the three genin in front of him it actually looked like he smiled – like a genuine and honest smile. That made her happy too. Maybe something happened to make Neji's heart Ache less (**A/N: It was reading his dad's letter to him and I'm to lazy to put a number here and put this at the bottom so sorry, this is unprofessional but it's the interruption you get.**)

"Attention! The Winner of the Second match Sakura VS Neji has been decided…"The proctor declared loudly. Shikamaru and Naruto laid back in the shadows, waiting till Sakura could walk up with them. Meanwhile Sakura and Neji stepped into the center. "The winner is –"

All of a sudden in a flash of leaves swirling, and then right before their eyes Sasuke appeared right in between the two other genin. Kakashi was right behind him. Kakashi said something about traffic and started questioning the proctor if Sasuke was disqualified and they said he was right on time.

"Were these two just about to fight?" Kakashi questioned gesturing between Sakura and Neji. Sasuke, who had been bantering with Naruto turned to look at her as well. _Well I wonder what would have happened if they had appeared in the middle of anyone of the battles…. _

"No, they already fought. It took a while to decide the winner."

"Why may I ask?" And thus Kakashi successfully engaged the proctor in a tell tale story of the Hyuga VS Haruno battle.

"Nice bruises" was the first thing out of Sasuke's mouth.

"Nice hair." Was the first thing out of Sakura's. Sasuke gave her a flat look. "Hey it's not my fault you show up wearing weird clothes and obviously missed your hair cut appointment." She stated in defense.

"What's wrong with my clothes?" He looked astonished and it made Sakura smile. Same old Sasuke, he was normal and alright and Orochimaru didn't get to him. Before she knew what she was doing she was hugging him. His body stiffed for a while before loosening. After realizing what she was doing she quickly let go.

"I'm jus glad you're alright."

"You were worried?"

"Of course you one of my best friends."

"Oh thank goodness Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder. "I thought you were in love with teme AND Neji. What a disaster that would be."

"Yeah you really shouldn't flirt with more the one guy." Shikamaru stated. Sakura's mouth fell open. They were bringing this up again! While team 7 plus Shikamaru discussed Sakura's apparent romantic interests, Neji slipped out soundlessly, obviously having forgotten about why he was there in the first place. And apparently everyone else had to – the crowd wanted Sasuke's match to begin, the proctor was caught up in a new discussion with Kakashi and Sakura was to busy defending the fact that she wasn't flirting and was in fact being dead serious with everything she had been saying.

"I'm hurt Sakura, picking the Byakugan over the sharingan is offensive to me." Sasuke stated using a fake hurt tone trying to rile her up.

"Gosh Sakura you're so easy to tease." Her cheeks flushed red. How did she… not realize that was what they were doing. Instinctively her hands covered her red cheeks. And Shikamaru breathed in her ear "Unless of course you do like Neji."

"Yeah when Hell freezes over!" she shouted back. "He may seem nicer but as far as I'm concerned he's still an arrogant jerk!"

"Whatever, Come one we better go." Shikamaru turned to leave, Naruto quickly following. The last she had heard out of the blondes mouth was "Wait we were teasing her? SO SHE DOESN'T REALLY LIKE NEJI?" then a groan from Shikamaru before they disappeared behind the stair doors leading to the waiting room. She turned to Sasuke to say goodbye, only to see him looking up at the waiting area staring straight at Gaara, Gaara staring back. It was weird like an entire new form of energy had hit the field. It scared her what these two might do to each other.

Gaara was the first to turn away and also the first ninja to actually use the stairs on the way down to the Arena. Sasuke just kept staring at the spot that the red head once was, like he was under some kind of trance.

"Sasuke?" Her voice was so quiet she couldn't believe it was her own. He didn't respond so she stood in front of him and waved a hand in front of his face. "Yo Teme!" She said bolder, his direction was now on her.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck okay?" She said, turning to leave.

"Wait."

"What?"

"That thing with you and Gaara, from the forest of Death. What was that." It wasn't a question, it was a demand.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean he seems to have some sort of unhealthy attachment to you. When you hugged me I swear he tried to kill me with his eyes."

"Chill Sasuke you're his opponent its natural for you two to try and intimidate each other, Neji did it to me and me to him, and were even from the same village."

"No." Sakura was wide eyed at the tone in his voice, commanding and strong - a touch concerned perhaps? - and a little threatening. "Look, just stay away from him alright? He's bad news. He'll kill you."

"Ugh! Why does everyone keep saying that! He's not going to hurt me, he isn't like that! So you guys can just knock it off!" She was sick of this, Shino, Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, even Hinata tried to tell her to stay away from him back at the tower right before the preliminaries! She turned to leave but Sasuke grabbed her arm. "Listen to me! If the others are warning you then clearly they've seen his true colors and so have I! Stop letting him fool you Sakura."

"Let go of me." She gritted out. She wasn't a child. She wasn't going to put up with this. And she was sick of what people said about Gaara! They sounded like those kids from his village the ones that made him sad all the time. She knew Gaara wasn't a little kid either, but that didn't make it hurt any less when others looked at you like that – even if someone could convince themselves they enjoyed it they really wouldn't it would just be a numb aching deep inside that they try to suppress.

Sasuke was staring her down, his grip slightly tightening as if challenging her last demand for release. "Sasuke, that's enough." Kakashi stepped in for her and the boy loosened his hold enough for her to yank it free. She muttered a thanks to her sensei, spun on her heal and left for the doors to the stairs.

**Shikamaru and Naruto**

It was quiet as the two made their way up the stairs. Both kept to their own thoughts until they both suddenly looked at each other and realized – they never found out if Sakura or Neji won the match!

"Well this just sucks! I thought for sure Sakura was successful! I mean she gave the last punch that set off the pillar! If the Jounin hadn't stepped in Neji was a goner!" Naruto began womplaining.

"Yeah but she didn't intend to make the pillar fall it was all happenstance." Shikamaru inputted.

"They don't know that she very well could ha-" Naruto was quiet as they heard walking down the hall ahead of them. They were almost at the top of the stairs, all they had to do was exit the hall way and then find the stairs that lead to the normal spectator seating (Shikamaru having decided not to sit up in the waiting room seeing as he was done with the matches.) But the only other person that would need to come down this way was the sand ninja Gaara, the creepy guy that threatened to kill them all that claimed it was the only way to prove his existence – and to top it off, they felt the same ominous and malice aura they had felt at the hospital. They heard voices, some adults. The two Leaf genin could only pick up bits and pieces of the conversation but it sounded like they tried to talk Gaara into losing on purpose. That's when the red head started wheezing and laughing, it sounded so demented to two leaf ninja. Then came the screaming.

Shikamaru and Naruto could see the darkness of the hallway from where they stood on the stairs and all of a sudden the screaming volume increased as one of the adults – from the mist by the looks of the headband – fell to the ground and sand literally swallowed him and pulled him back.

But the scariest part was the silence. And then the footsteps came again. Hastily the two boys turned to make it look like they were walking down the stairs – no way were they gonna look him in the face or he might try and kill them too. The nervous energy came off them in waves, heart rates increasing as they saw the blood red hair from the corner of their eyes. As soon s they were sure he was at the bottom and both sat down, unable to stand up, panting and still trembling from what they just witnessed.

"I can't believe it. That could have been us." Naruto panted.

"How can Sakura hang out with that guy? He's a cold blooded murder." Shikamaru looked just as shaken as he whipped stray sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. "You remember what he said at the hospital?"

"How could I forget."

"Well he said he was going to kill us and that was the perfect opportunity. Which means that at this point, it might only be Sasuke that makes him feel alive. Its not looking good for him." That's when they heard it – Sakura's voice at the bottom of the stairs. Then Gaara's voice replying. Sakura gasped, Naruto and Shikamaru stood then froze, scared to move and check on her. Naruto's scared eyes turned determined as he raced down the stairs to get to Sakura.

**Gaara's POV**

At the bottom of the stairs Gaara couldn't wait to take care of Sasuke and get this destroying the village thing done, then nothing would hold Sakura back from going with him.

"Hey Gaara! Didn't see you there." He looked down and noticed the light of his life standing in front of him. He smiled on impulse when he looked at her own smiling face. Then he frowned as he scanned her arms. They were bruised all over and there were probably many more hidden. Without even thinking he reached out to stroke one of the darker once, he barley touched it and she winced. He glared at the dark spot.

The Hyuga did this.

His anger reignited as he remembered the fight, he could barely keep his sand in control, then she had looked at him and he panicked but instead of trembling in fear and yelling out monster she simply looked surprised- something he was hurt by at first until realizing anyone would be surprised if they'd never seen him this way before – before smiling gently at him as if to comfort him. In the midst of her battle she had been worried about him.

Gaara hated that Hyuga.

"Gaara? Hey Gaara are you alright?" Sakura looked worried, Gaara assumed that she had called his name a few times already for him to respond. As soon as he looked at her his anger cooled, but it still festered deep inside him, he just had a hard time being angry around her.

"Well I just wanted to wish you good luck! I best get to my seat now. Everyone's waiting." She was about to walk past him when he wrap his arms protectively around her. She gasped at his speed and the sudden contact. Then relaxed and hugged him back, hoping it would help whatever was going on.

"Gaara what's wrong?" She questioned. Her genuine concern reflected in her voice which was soft and quiet.

"Don't worry. After this, everything will be just fine."

**Sakura POV**

Unlike the quick initiation of the hug, Gaara let go of her very slowly, as if he didn't want to really release her. His statement was confusing and the look on her face pretty much spelt out "I don't get it." But without elaboration Gaara simply yet reluctantly turned to go meet Sasuke.

The next thing she knew Shikamaru and Naruto were bombarding her with questions. Where had they even come from?

"I heard you gasp? What did he do? Are you alright?" Sakura's temper flared.

"Why do you assume he did something to me?" She demanded. "He gave me a hug and caught me off guard is all."

"Did anything unusual happen?" Shikamaru questioned, his tone was worried and anxious, the most energized she'd ever heard the lazy genius, but compared to Naruto Shikamaru looked as cool and collect as a spring lake.

"Not really, he just said 'after this everything will be fine.' It was weird." She said. "And he seemed off… I'm worried about him, he doesn't seem like himself."

"So his mask is finally slipping in front of you huh?" Naruto spat out.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sakura, we've all tried telling you that guy it bad news, he kills without even thinking, without it even being necessary." Shikamaru pitched in. "He tried to kill Hinata! Kiba Shino and Hinata all saw him kill three mist ninja like it was nothing in the forest of Death. He threatened to kill all of us when Naruto and I stopped him from killing one of your best friends at the hospital and just now he killed two more mist ninja. And right after he killed two people without batting an eye, he comes here and hugs you. You cannot tell me you don't think that's twisted? "

"Without reason?" She asked, voice having lost its strength with all the proclamations.

"What?"

"Just now, did he kill them without reason."

"well… they kinda threatened to kill him if he didn't lose the match…." Naruto stated. Sakura regained her strength. "But that doesn't matter its still wrong!"

"So it was justified – in a way." Was the pink haired girls response. Shikamaru shook his head.

"No way. He didn't have to kill them he could have let them go but he chose not to. And you should have heard his laugh, it was like he was enjoying it, like he wanted more." Shikamaru looked lost for a second before coming back, determined as ever to convince her to stay away. "And how could you want be around a guy that tried to kill Hinata?! The girl did nothing to him and he wanted to wipe out her life because, and I'm quoting this, "I feel like it"." Sakura's head was bowed. Everything they were saying, she didn't think her friends would go this far with a lie – heck Kiba never would have quit the fight to make it convincing he was to high-strung for that- just to keep her away from someone. Not to mention only a few were doing it, if it was a group lie then everyone would have said something but it wasn't. However, if what they said was true, if her Gaara was gone then –

_no. He's not gone. When I'm there, the Gaara I know is too, and he's not faking it. I've seen him genuinely happy – that's the way he was meant to me. _She thought to when her eyes met his during her battle with Neji, the angry look that had scared her for a second – and behind it was fear sadness, anxiety. From that far away, Sakura could see it in his eyes he had been scared of losing her, and thinking back to when they were kids, she assumed he had no other friends in his village, it was most likely the reason she was so precious. She was the only one he talked to.

He needed her.

"If what you're saying is true –" She cut off her staring contest with the floor – the floor being the winner – to look right into Shikamaru's eyes. "Then he needs me more then ever. He's lost, and in pain, but he can be brought back I know it! He's still there, he's just hurt!" Shikamaru looked at her wide eyed while Naruto was looking in the distance, lost in his thoughts. She assumed he understood what she was saying. He was a jinchuriki after all, he had experienced lots of pain he knew what it was like to be treated like Gaara was. She _knew _that he understood what she was saying.

"Sakura I'm starting to think you're insane too!" Shikamaru challenged. That's when they heard a body colliding with the ground and looked over to the arena. Gaara was on the ground, his sand armored face cracked. He was holding glaring at Sasuke and Sasuke was giving the universal come and get me look. Before charging, he got another hit in, he was moving so fast, just like Lee had when fighting Naruto. He was just to fast for Gaara. The read head's shield wasn't working, Sasuke was able to get close to him and knee him. That was 3 times. 3 times he hit Gaara.

Sakura was growing more concerned.

Gaara fixed up his armor then made a simple hand sign and formed a dome around himself. Sasuke's attempt to strike it resulted in spikes growing out of it, leaving him with a cut on his cheek and, leg and bleeding knuckles. His defense seemed impenetrable. Naruto and Shikamaru took that moment to run off, yelling out Kakashi sensei's name, wanted him to stop the match. Sakura was just frozen in place, staring at the battle from the most dangerous position a spectator could possibly take. The battle seemed slow movie, with Gaara closed in his shield and a giant sand eye floating over it to look at Sasuke. Sasuke just keep attacking the shield with his fist or weapons over and over again, making no progress no matter where he attacked from.

That was, until he activated the chidori. The sound of chirping birds filled the air he made a dent in the wall in which he had formed the chidori on, charging head first for Gaara. Despite the sands sharp spikes attempting to stop the oncoming attack, Sasuke got passed the defense. The next thing they heard was screaming and Sakura started to shake at the sound. Gaara was screaming about his blood, _Sasuke hit him. _She had chills down her spine, there were no words to describe what Gaara's voice sounded like. Then Sasuke couldn't remove his arm, so he started up Chidori again so he could rip his arm free, and with it came as strange arm, with light purple lines crawling up parts. A growling sound, deep and dark came from the shell Gaara was suppose to be in. Sakura was shaking uncontrollably. The energy coming off of him was insane dark and….. blood thirsty.

_What … happened to you Gaara?!_

Then the shell cracked, Gaara was out with a deep cut bleeding at his shoulder. His entire disposition had changed. Then across from Sakura, she could see the stands, people began falling, why were they falling? What was happening? Some kind of explosion occurred where the Kage's had been sitting, soon everyone was taking action. Temari and Kankuro called out to Gaara and jumped down. Sakura didn't have a clue what was going on. Some purple barrier showed up, around the roof of the Kage seating, She couldn't see from the distance who the ninja attacking the village were affiliated with. The sound of kunai clashing filled the air. Gaara was pushing his siblings aside, wanting to attack Sasuke, but he fell to the ground clutching his head talking about how they needed Gaara for something, but what – _No_. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She couldn't breath, her body felt like lead as she realized what was going on.

No.

No no nonono.

NNNNNNNOOOO!

Sakura couldn't believe it… _The sand… was attacking. But… then… Gaara…he couldn't have known, but …. he must have known_. Even back then as she showed him around the village? Back when he saved her life in the forest of death? She couldn't stop shaking, Kankuro and Temari picked Gaara up and jumped over the wall of the arena, running away. She screamed at her legs to run after them to demand answers to ask how Gaara could do this to her, but her body wasn't responding. The proctor had jumped in front of Sasuke to protect Sasuke from some sand ninja that had jumped in front of the three sand genin before they took off. Sasuke took off in no time jumping over the wall, seeing him disappear sprung Sakura into action as well but she couldn't rush after him just yet – she needed to get her teammates.

She ran up the stairs and into the spectators seating, colors and details blurring past her as she ran by. When she finally reached the part her friends had been occupying Kakashi sensei took notice of her immediately.

"Sakura, good timing. Release the genjutsu on Naruto and Shikamaru." She nodded, he didn't need to tell her why she was doing it, she already knew she would have done it whether he asked her too or not. "And Sakura, before you go after Gaara, make sure your prepared and be careful. This is the first A rank mission since the land of the waves." He eyes gazed over as she nodded. She just hoped … that no one on either side would die this time.

How fickle.

**XOXOXOXOOXX**

Sakura did her job, then she, Naruto, and Shikamaru were doing all they could to cover the ground Sasuke had traveled moments before them. Pakkun, Kakashi's ninja Dog was leading the way for them, sniffing out the trail Sasuke and Gaara had taken.

But they were being tailed, and trying to make sure they weren't getting tracked cost them to lose time, and it didn't even end up working. None of the ideas they were coming up to lose the trackers would work, Shikamaru basically leading the team due to his advanced intellect. He ultimately came up with the idea of a decoy, a position that he actually volunteered for saying he was the only one with a chance of pulling it off and actually surviving. He sounded tough, but the thing was, he still might not come back – this could be the last they ever saw of him… but there was no time to dwell on it, they had to get going and after a look from Naruto, they were back on track, Shikamaru disappearing in the distance.

It didn't seem like it was possible for them to move fast enough, and on their way they found Shino who had taken down Kankuro (what had only used one puppet in the exams when he actually had more) Shino then told them to keep moving ahead, Sasuke shouldn't be to far. They thanked him and departed.

Sakura couldn't believe what she saw when she got there. Pakun told them to stay at a safe distance and observe for now, only step in once they knew what the situation was. Gaara's body was taken over by some… thing. She didn't even know how to describe it, but it must have – yes it had to have been the reason that Gaara was feared in his own village. Now it was trying to take him over, is this why Gaara was so messed up, this demon inside of him. Sakura went from startled to scared to angry. _How dare it do this to Gaara! _ She was so mad… especially when she heard Gaara's raspy voice calling out to Sasuke.

"Are you shocked by my true form?" There was a wicked smile laced within every word, laughter only befit for a mad man echoing soon after. "To live – I must kill. AND YOU ARE MY PREY!" The battle between the two raged on, and Sakura was just increasing in her emotional distress. Everything was happening so fast. "Why DON'T YOU ATTACK!" Sakura stiffened, thinking he was talking about them. He then fell to the ground, clutching his head and the next words were near impossible to hear. "Why do you always run away?"

Sakura's heart ached in an instant as she remembered the broken little boy just looking for companionship. He was still there, she realized. A twisted version, but still there. What could she do? How could she save him from this? Most of all, how could she convincer herself she wasn't scared as hell to get any closer, how would she convince herself that she didn't really want to turn tail and flee. This wasn't Gaara.

She couldn't. She just stood there and watched, unable to rip her eyes away as a sand 'tail' thing came out of his gourd. It made him faster, stronger, Sasuke was barely Dodging, Sakura and Naruto currently had no place in this fight. Despite that, Naruto was raring to Jump in, to help Sasuke, and as soon as Sasuke's curse mark was activated and he feel immobile to the ground that's exactly what he did. And just in time too. Had Naruto made his presence know even a second Later, Gaara's attack would have killed Sasuke. It was only Naruto's kick taking the strange version of Sakura's childhood friend by surprise that saved the Uchiha's life. Sakura jumped in soon after to check on how Sasuke was doing, he couldn't even get the strength to stand as he tried to fight off the curse mark.

"Sakura, hey Sakura, Sakura!" It took a while to register to her, but that was defiantly Naruto speaking.

"What?"

Naruto gestured to Gaara in front of her. "Who is this guy?" Sakura turned her eyes onto Gaara's own, her heart filled with sadness, hurt, and betrayal. He wasn't looking at her yet, but it wouldn't take him long.

"Its you." Gaara mentioned casually to Naruto. "You're the one I didn't kill that day." Naruto's eyes widened in fear and shock and it was then that Gaara spotted a pick blob of hair behind him.

"So –" Gaara rasped out, "Is this your choice then Sakura? Do you chose them?!" His voice started out calm but was rising with every word he said, salvia dripping out of his moth because half of his teeth were razors and the other half were normal, meaning he couldn't close it properly. She looked at him confused.

"What?"

"What's it going to be, now's the time! Them, or me?" She didn't know what to say, she didn't know what he was talking about. "Won't say? Fine. Then let your actions speak for you!" Naruto turned to yell at them that they all had to run but Gaara was already charging toward them, he dashed past Naruto straight Toward Sasuke prepared to kill him. Sakura didn't know what to do, she couldn't kill Gaara, but she couldn't let Sasuke die either! She had to do the first thing that came to mind, her body acted on impulse.

Then it was Gaara's turn to be shocked. His arm was pulled back, ready to smash Sasuke's brains in, when Sakura jumped into his line of vision, arms outstretches, eyes determined but hurt silently pleading for him to stop. He couldn't stop the attack, he didn't know if he even wanted to, he didn't know her decision yet. But the look in her eyes – made him sad… they looked betrayed. She wasn't looking at him with hate or disgust, just pure raw hurt.

He didn't like that he caused this. He didn't want her in pain. But she couldn't just not pick a side. She HAD TO PICK A SIDE! He redirected his blow to the tree next to her, missing her by centimeters. He would see what she did, and what happened next surprised him even more, her arms loosened, and as his body barreled into hers brought them down on the branch below Sasuke's, she wrapped them around his waist, clutching at the cloth on his back. He landed kneeling on one knee, she had fallen onto both of hers, her face firmly embedded in her chest. She was crying, begging him to stop, to bring Gaara back. He didn't know what to do.

It reminded him of so many years ago when he had attacked those kids… she had done nearly the exact same thing. The only difference now seemed to be their age.

"Pleas Gaara! I know this isn't you! I've seen you! When were alone your happy! This isn't who you are! Please come back to me!" She was sobbing over and over. "I don't want you to go, I don't want to lose you!"

He didn't know what to think of her words. How could she possibly know who he was, she hadn't known him for 6 years. But then again, whenever they were together he felt completely different then when they were apart.

"I know your hurting!" His eyes widened and one hand went to clutch his head as everything was flooding back, he tried slightly to push her away but she just gripped him tighter. "I know you're sad! You're Scared! You're in PAIN! But most of all….your lonely." Her sobs quieted but her body was still shaking. "It doesn't have to be that way. "

Gaara felt so conflicted, he pushed her away, his Shukaku arm pinning her into the next tree and he stared at her searching her face for something, anything that gave off the indication that she was scared of him, that she hated him.

"I'm mad at you." She stated, the hurt from her eyes even stronger in her voice. "I'm mad at you for attacking my village, I'm furious that you tried to kill one of my dear friends and strangly even more then that I'm outraged you didn't tell me the truth about any of it. You kept it from me and I'm mad because it hurts." He didn't know how to respond, to that. His eyes just curled up in a glare. He was confused his emotions were tearing at him from the inside out he didn't know what to do any more – he didn't know if he should, could or would kill her. He didn't know if he wanted to do that, he didn't know anything at this moment except all the pain and anger that was brought back to him, hitting him ten fold. "But I think, if you'd let me, I might be able to try and understand why you did all those things… I know you aren't yourself, so I won't hold you entirely accountable – I know your past is terrible, but at the same time, these aren't excuses for your deeds because you're hurting people that had nothing to do with this!"

"You don't know anything! You haven't been there!" He shouted. How could she act like she could ever understand? He cared for her dearly, something that he found to be a blessing and curse. But he also knew that caring caused pain, that right now he was scared she would turn on him – scared that she was right. But she took forever to respond, so he tightened his grip on her, making her wince in pain – her body still worse for wear from her battle with the Hyuga. Right now part of him cared and the other part didn't seem to mind because now _he_ was angry at _her_.

"You're right. I haven't and I'm sorry! I wish I was, then we both wouldn't have been alone and angry for so long! But I HAVE been here for the past month, I've spent time with you, you've saved my life, you kept me safe you handed me back to my teammates without asking for anything in return!" As an after thought she added, "And I might add that you were some of the most stimulating conversation that I have." She looked at his face seeing if any of this, anything at all was reaching him. "I've heard you laugh and seen you smile – an honest and genuinely happy smile, not the twisted one the demon inside you forces you to make. I've seen your kindness _AND_ experienced it first hand! I've seen the way you don't know how to part from me because you don't want to be alone." He was clutching his head again. "You aren't this Gaara, you ARE NOT A MONSTER! I don't care what they all say! Gaara isn't evil! I know what its like to feel alone, not to the extent you do but I get it." His grip was tightening, he sounded like he was in pain and was weezing again.

I know…" He rasped, trying to get breath. "That you're just afraid of me!" There was silence as Sakura closed her eyes, gathered her wits and opened them again to look at him. "Go on deny it! Try and make me believe that you aren't!"

"You're right." She started weakly at first. "I'm TERRIFIED!" His grip tightened on her even more – if that was possible - he knew it was coming he just couldn't bring himself to believe until he heard it now. "But I'm not afraid _of you._" _What? That doesn't make any sense?! _"I'm afraid of what's happening _to you! I_'m afraid you'll get to far lost that you can't come back I'm afraid that you will be lonely forever I'm afraid that I won't be able to help you!" His grip slackened, but held strong, at least now she felt like she could breathe. "Let me help you! Tell me what I can do! Please! I'll do anything to have Gaara back!"

He froze at that and raised his head to look at her. "Anything?" His voice still sounded like the monster's but it was less raw this time. She nodded.

"If it helps save you." _And is morally and ethically reasonable. _

"Then –"

"Don't DO IT SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto shouted, he had Joined Sasuke and had been trying to help the Uchiha stand while simultaneously listening to their conversation.

"He's right Sakura don't listen to him! You don't have to do this to protect us." Sasuke seemed to be having trouble speaking, yet he forced out that sentenced just to tell her that. She truly did have a team that cared about her.

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" Gaara hissed, grip once again threatening to suffocate her. She had to gain her bearings before she could speak.

"This isn't just for you guys." She turned her attention from her teammates to he damaged friend. "This is for Gaara too. Actually, its mainly for him."

"If that is true. " Gaara started, eyes boring into hers. "Then leave here. Come with me and don't leave me again!" His voice sounded harsh but Sakura could see it, in his eyes, he was sad and alone, all he wanted was for her not to leave. However, that was treason, how could she do that?

"Gaara, I don't know if I-"

"Promise."

She looked from her teammates to the trees of Konoha to Gaara's siblings and back at him. Minutes felt like hours as she thought over what the decision would entail. This could help him, and she enjoyed her time with him and in Suna. She could help him heal and eventually she would get to come back. This decided she breathed in, looked straight at him smiled softly and gave her response.

"If that will help you heal."

"SAKURA YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING! THAT'S TREASON!" Naruto Shouted. "FORGET IT NO BROWS THERE IS NO WAY SHE'S GOING WITH YOU! SHE'S STAYING HERE!" _Naruto NO! _The blonde Dobe had set Sasuke down at a safer distance, propped against a tree before joining in and hearing the last bit of their conversation.

"NO!" Gaara's eyes, which had almost calmed down, went wild again. "NO! YOU AREN'T GOING TO TAKE HER AWAAAAAAYYY!" Before she knew what was happening she felt intense pressure and pain cutting open her upper right arm. She screamed before she could think, it hurt so much. She didn't know what was happening but it hurt. Tears feel down her face and all at once the pressure stopped, Gaara's sand arm picked her up and put her on the branch he was on. Sakura was exhausted all over again. She hadn't recuperated at all from her Neji battle, then ran here and now was put through a death grip and immense pain. All she could do was lay on the ground and shake.

"What did you do you bastard!" Naruto shouted jumping down to slam into Gaara but missing. "I'm NOT going to let you hurt my friends! YOU HERE ME!?"

Sakura was to tired to hear what was going on, all she knew was Naruto engaged Gaara in battle, at some point There was a ginormous toad and a giant sand creature, Naruto head butted something on the head of the creature and then it disappeared, and the Naruto and a body she knew was Gaara, were suddenly falling from so high up. At some point during all of this, Sasuke made his way to her and tried to pick her up and get out of there, but Temari intervened, telling the Uchiha to back off, that Sakura was safer if he didn't try to take her away after she made such a heavy promise to the red haired sand ninja. Sasuke, stayed by her side, fighting his own pains, but did not try to move her again – most likely thinking his chances of success when engaging Temari in battle were slim.

She didn't know what was going to happen, but knowing Naruto he'd probably saying something unheard of to Gaara, and it would lean her favorite red head towards changing his ways. At least she hoped. She wouldn't get to know, not yet. No. Right now she used the rest of her energy to look at her upper right arm, clearing up the dried blood as best she could she couldn't say she was entirely surprised at what she saw.

There, ingrained in her arm, was the kanji symbol for love.

**Sorry that this was all basically crap…. I didn't like Sakura's fight with Neji because I don't think I explained it well and I wanted them to be evenly matched but didn't know how to write it that way. **

**Also conveying Gaara's rapidly changing emotions in this chapter was extremely difficult – he cares for Sakura but later on when he believes its her time to choose either her friends or him he kind of is prepared to hate her because its what he expects, he's anticipating the pain but part of him wants to get rid of the source before he can feel it. **

**He marked her because he wanted to make sure Naruto knew he wasn't letting her go – something that wouldn't have happened if Naruto hadn't gotten him riled up again. **

**NEXT TIME ON AN ALL NEW: WHAT FATE BRINGS FORTH! (Que naruto music.)**

Hokage Down! How will this new be taken?!

Sakura: Number one Suna medical apprentice!

New Hokage's political case of a kidnapped Kunochi!

**Find out in the next chapter: **Suna's Sakura and Gaara's true heart!


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